“Who are you?” Owen asked. The question lingered between them, heavy ontheair.
Crawford shook his head slowly, already taken by Owen’s steadfast nature. “Crawford Daniels. I thought the letter I sent was signed. Myapologies.”
“No.” Owen pushed his lips together in the most charming way, and Crawford’s heart sped up at the sight. The flash of white teeth against his full, pink skin was tempting. The omega was too pretty for words. “I mean, I know that. You did sign the letter. I just mean… I Googled you, but nothing reallycameup.”
“I try to minimize my online presence,” Crawford replied. “I’m a man who values hisprivacy.”
“Well, you certainly know enough about me.” Owen sat back in his chair, crossing his arms. The sommelier approached and poured them each a glass of wine without inquiring about their selection. Crawford ordered the same thing every time he came, and the staff knew hispreference.
The encounter left Owen mystified, though, and Crawford watched as he looked at the wine glasses in shock. The sommelier left the table without a word. “And these people know you well enough, it seems. Are you acelebrity?”
“No.” Crawford choked back a laugh. “Not by far. I’m just a man who happened to be born to the rightparents.”
“Okay, so what do your parentsdo,then?”
Watching Owen squirm was half the fun, but Crawford wasn’t going to push his luck. As much as he liked to see Owen put on the spot, he also wanted to show his respect. If he was serious about getting what he wanted from Owen, respect was imperative. “My father’s side of the family comes from old money, largely from the labor industry. Of course, the profits from that are all passive income, so there’s really not much work to be done. My father spent his time advocating for omega rights and funding social programs for the less fortunate. One of his biggest accomplishments was foundingStonecrest.”
Owen froze. His eyes widened, and his eyes flickered with uncertainty. “Your father foundedStonecrest?”
“He did.” Crawford lifted a brow. “Is that so hard to believe? We did meet while your superior was giving me a tour of the premises,afterall.”
“No.” Owen shook his head. “Just, I know that the man who founded it was Wesley Sykes, an omega. Your name is Crawford Daniels. I think maybethere’s—”
“There’s no mistake.” Crawford let his gaze dip down Owen’s body, savoring the fit of his suit and the form beneath it. When he met Owen’s eyes again, Crawford was smiling. “Is it really so hard for someone as socially progressive as yourself to believe that my father was the omega partner? My mother was a powerful alpha, Catherine Daniels. She built a cosmetic empire from thegroundup.”
Since the time he was born, Crawford’s life had been unusual. It wasn’t typical for female alphas to take omega male partners, but it did happen. Crawford was the result of one such union. His parents’ relationship had shaped his worldviews and turned him into the man he was today. His father was no less of a man for having been born the way he was born, and his mother no less of a woman. Crawford had learned to value a person for who he or she was rather than their genetic variances, and he considered his values a pivotal influence on his tastes in romanticpartners.
Crawford’s parents had always been major forces in his life, and he missed them bothdearly.
Owen looked him over cautiously, but lips curled downward in uncertainty. He picked up his glass of wine and sipped at it, then made a face. “It’sdry.”
“You don’t like it?” Crawfordasked.
“I wasn’t expecting it,” Owen answered. “I usually prefer sweetwines.”
“I’ll have them fix it,” Crawford said. He looked away from Owen to see if he could track down the sommelier, but Owen shookhishead.
“No, it’s fine. I’ll drink it. I don’t want it to go to waste.” Owen hesitated. “I suppose I’m just not used to this… to any of this. And I don’t understand why you’d invite me here tonight. You don’t know anythingaboutme.”
Crawford hummed, then sipped at his wine. He shot a wry look at Owen over the rim of his glass. “Isn’t that reason enough to invite someone for dinner?” Crawford asked. “I’d like to get to know youbetter.”
“But… why?” Owen pushed his lips together again and began to fidget with hishands.
Crawford considered the question carefully. He didn’t want to push things too far too fast and risk scaring Owen off, but at the same time, he knew that he needed to broach the topic eventually. “Because I saw something when I looked in your eyes, and it made me want to see if what I saw was reallythere.”
“Whatwasit?”
“An eagerness to please,” Crawford said. “And a need to leteverythinggo.”
Owen hesitated. His lips parted as if to speak, then shook his head, licked his lips, and closed his mouthagain.
“You’re not denying it,” Crawford remarked. “Isittrue?”
Owen shot him a look that would have been poisonous had his eyes not betrayed him. For as harshly as he set his mouth, and as deep as he could furrow his brows, he couldn’t hide the spark of hope in his eyes. There was something about Owen that was troubled, and it begged to becorrected.
Crawford wanted to careforhim.
Owen wasn’t broken, but he wasn’t entirely whole, either. Like a piece of wood soaked over time, he’d become warped. Crawford badly wanted to set him back intoplace.
