He chuckles and looks down. “Cooking has been my passion since I was eight years old. My parents saw the potential and put me in classes when I was twelve. The passion stuck, and I graduated from culinary school at nineteen. At twenty-one, I got a job offer in London, and I jumped at the chance to get out of Boston.”
There’s a faraway look in his eyes at the mention of Boston. “Why were you so desperate to leave?”
He shakes his head, his face taut. “I needed a break from my life there and my well-intentioned but high-maintenance siblings.” Before I can ask him about said siblings, he continues to talk about his successful career. “Eventually, I stayed in one place and worked my way up. Once I was ‘discovered’…” He quotes the word with both hands. “Investors came pouring in.” He waves a hand around the restaurant. “And this was the result.”
Ignoring the way he dodged my question, I decide to move on. I remind myself that I’m never going to see him again, so there’s no need to know why my question bothered him.
“How many places do you have?”
“Two. Both are in London, and they have different names and cuisines. This one is Italian and the other is Spanish.”
“You didn’t want to expand?”
Ace moves the ice cubes in his glass, still refusing to look at me. “I used to, but I learned that it was too much work at such a young age.” He quickly corrects himself. “I’m extremely fortunate to have accomplished all of this with a lot of luck and time on my side, but I’m exhausted. Too exhausted to be in my thirties. And…” He pauses as if searching for the right words. “I want to do something different.” Then his eyes bore into me. “Ineedto do something different. I’ve had the craving for a while.” The intensity with which he says the words makes my mouth open just a little. His gaze drops to my lips, causing butterflies in my stomach to flutter. He then looks down at my chest, which is moving faster than usual. The tension heightens, and I squirm under his watchful eyes.
He must notice my movements and quickly looks back at his glass.
Ignoring the heat pooling in my core, I shake my head slightly. I need to lighten the mood. “What’s your favorite book?”
His head hangs, and I can hear a breathy laugh leave him, making me smile. “My favorite book?”
I straighten in my seat, trying to sound as serious as possible. “You heard me.”
He cracks his neck. “All right, I guess if I had to pick one it’d beThe Godfather.” I roll my eyes, and he scoffs. “What was that for?”
“When did you read it?”
Ace shakes his head as if he wasn’t expecting that to be my answer. He takes a moment to think about it and clicks his teeth together. “About six years ago.” He sighs.
Just as I suspected. “Not much of a reader?”
His shoulders rise. “I’m more of a crossword puzzle kind of guy.” I give him a nod, letting him know that I’m not passing any judgment. “English major?”
Shrugging, I scrunch my nose. “Something like that.” Heopens his mouth to ask me a follow-up question, but I beat him to the punch. “I have multiple favorite books, but there’s one that I always carry around with me during the summer.” Digging through my purse, I pull out my pocket copy ofThe Princess Bride.
Ace sets his glass down and turns the book toward him. A slight grin graces his lips. “Why this book?”
I smile sadly, remembering the first time I read this and who I read it with. “When a book means something to anyone as this one does to me, it’s life-changing. It’s what got me into what I’m doing now and what I want to pursue. I associate nothing but good memories with it. It also serves as a reminder that no matter how many bullshit parties I go to and how many snooty people I meet, all I have to do is touch the spine of this book in my bag and it grounds me.” When I tilt my head back up, I see that he’s holding my gaze. Whatever he sees reflecting in my eyes must reveal everything I’m feeling because his eyebrows turn inward in understanding. I clear my throat, confused as to why I told him that. “I’m sorry, that was probably more than you wanted to know.”
“It’s no problem, really.” He says it sincerely, but all I want is for him to change the subject. There’s a silence for a moment, and then a light laugh. “I just remembered the first time I saw the movie. My sister was obsessed with it and watched it almost every day for a month. My parents had to beg her to play with her toys.” For a moment, I’m confused, but then I follow his finger that’s pointing to my book.
I smile widely at the new piece of him and his life I’ve just learned about. “How many siblings do you have?”
Ace’s eyes widen. He just realized he’d let another detail about his personal life slip, and it clearly makes him uncomfortable. He clears his throat and looks away. I allow him to have his moment of silence; it’s the least I can do after he tried to lighten the mood the way he did.
As he avoids me while looking around his place, I study hiseyes. This man is so different from the men I’m used to being surrounded by. A hard worker and ambitious, he knows what he wants and is accomplished at such a young age. He’s easy to talk to, has a great sense of humor, and is gorgeous. I mean, his entire demeanor made me open up and tell him something only a handful of people know.
I roam his face some more, and I’m finally close enough to see the color of his irises. They’re a mix of blue and green, extremely unique and beautiful. My gaze lowers to his full lips, and then to his chiseled jaw that has some stubble on it.
Of course, I found a man who piqued my interest for the first time in years, and I’m never seeing him again. The idea makes me want to jump his bones and flee at the same time.
“Like what you see?”
Lifting my gaze, I notice the amusement and cockiness in his eyes, but I don’t smile back. Instead of responding, I decide to act, taking advantage of the fact that he’s no longer uncomfortable.
I don’t want to hide anymore. I’m just hoping he doesn’t recognize me from the tabloids I was in years ago. But he doesn’t strike me as the kind of man who would read the gossip columns or be into social media.
Dragging my hands to the back of my head, I let out a sigh while untying the knot and pulling out the pins that were holding the mask in place around the base of my hair.
