“I’m hungry,” he said, glancing around.
A moment later, a waiter appeared. “Yes, Mr. Churchill? Is there anything I can do?”
“We’re hungry. I missed lunch. I don’t suppose Chef has anything that we can eat?”
EJ snickered, and he glanced at her. “Imagine a restaurant having food to eat.”
Eric’s lips arced on his handsome face. When he showed genuine amusement, and not like he was sneering at the world, he possessed a charm that made her heart skip a beat.
“Would you care for a dinner meal, or something less substantial?” the waiter asked.
Eric glanced at her. “Did you have dinner plans tonight?”
Apart from a microwave meal for one, “No.” Wait, was he asking her to have dinner with him? That wasn’t a good idea. Was it?
He turned back to the waiter. “Then I think an early dinner would be good.”
“Does madam have any allergies?”
“No.” But before she could say she didn’t think she should dine with him, she heard herself saying, “I’m happy with anything.”
“As am I.” Eric glanced at her again. “Do you wish to see a menu, or do you want to live dangerously?”
She eyed him. It didn’t seem like they were talking about just a meal anymore. She swallowed. “How dangerous are we talking?”
“Do you trust me?”
No. She barely knew him. She made a noncommittal noise, which seemed to satisfy him as he turned to the waiter. “Then ask Chef if he could give us two of today’s specials.”
“You don’t wish to know what they are?”
“You heard the lady. She’s happy to live dangerously. And so am I.”
She clasped her fingers on her lap, as anticipation whirled around. Okay, while she might’ve enjoyed perusing a menu, there was something rather audacious about ordering twospecials, sight unseen. Was this how the super-rich lived, not caring about what normal people did? She supposed if Eric didn’t like it, then he could just order something else, and it would be whipped up in a hurry. That was the kind of man Eric Churchill was. People wanted to please him. Heaven knew how much this would cost.
“So, is this okay?” he asked, once the waiter had left.
She glanced around. The setting sun glimmered golden light on the water, the restaurant’s candles were being lit, and their little private table suddenly seemed a lot more romantic than it had two hours ago.
She nodded. “I can’t believe we’ve been talking for two hours.”
“You’re very easy to talk to,” he said.
And despite him being a rich man, she felt the same. Shyness washed over her, and she glanced away. Saw people looking at Eric, looking at her. And she suddenly realised what this would look like. Uh oh.
She straightened in her leather chair. “So, I’m just checking. Us being here together isn’t going to cause a problem for anyone, is it?”
He thanked the waiter who placed slices of bread on their side plates. “In what way?”
“I mean, this looks like we’re out on a date.”
He nodded, buttering his bread. “It probably does.”
“But … but that isn’t going to be a problem for someone? You don’t have a secret girlfriend that nobody knows about, do you?”
His eyes flickered. “I think as far as everyone is concerned, they’d be seeing you and thinking the same.”
She choked on the piece of bread she was chewing. “But I don’t.”
