Curiosity.
Her set point.And a deep character flaw according to the Family.
They rode down the private elevator in silence.The restaurant on the second level of the impressive black granite building had a private entrance for members.
For the plot, indeed.
Vesna would have loved this.
A sleek, elegant hostess in a body-con dress led them through the private room to a private booth that had peacock blue velvet drapes, which she partially closed.
She handed them each a menu and a wine list and left.
Ayana tensed as the room shrouded—why would anyone want privacy to eat in a restaurant—a celebrity maybe.And now she was closed in with a man she didn’t know, who was a member here.
No doubt a lot of secrets played out in this elegant place—especially behind the curtains of a private booth.She left the menu untouched and eyed him much as she would a cougar while out hiking.She breathed in through her nose and forced her body to relax.She knew how to defend herself.She’d taught herself how after she left the Family.
“You and Cam engage often in midafternoon debauchery?”
He leaned forward, and it took every molecule in her body to force herself not to lean back.She’d initiated this lunch.She’d taken Vesna up on the tickets and the hotel suite to give herself a few days to plan her immediate future in comfort and explore a new city.Who knew?Maybe she’d like Denver and could find a job here.
With a flick of his wrist, he flipped her side of the heavy curtain open and tucked it behind the brass holder so that she was in full view—but not him.
“You’re not the woman who answered Cam’s ad for a bride.”His voice was clipped.
His suit was perfectly tailored to his tall, rangy frame.Every message delivered was that this man was too civilized and aware of his importance to debauch a woman or himself in a public arena at lunch.He didn’t look like a candidate for after-hours either, though looks could be deceiving.She was sure she wasn’t his type, not that that always stopped men.
“Like I want to be a bride?”She rolled her eyes.
She couldn’t help it.She was still reactionary to her early programming from the Family and disappointed by Vesna’s desperation.
“Noted.Why then are you here?”
So not as tame and dismissive as she’d initially read.If she were going to design a hero in a romance novel, his body would definitely make readers drool.Pacific Ocean eyes.Chin she could hang an ornament on, complete with a divot—and the cheekbones so high and hollowed out—like Robert Pattinson inTwilight—only with more pigment and life miles.
“Curiosity.It’s a flaw,” she said ruefully, before remembering to smile.Maybe she should flirt.See how he’d react.
“I’d say it’s a characteristic that tops a list of advantages.”
The rush of pleasure disturbed her.She wasn’t here to be charmed by the suit.It was easy to school her expression.She’d learned to hide her thoughts and feelings early—not always as successfully as she’d needed, but after years of being a waitress—first at small mom and pops, then chains before the cruise ship, she’d honed her poker face to a work of art.
He flicked back his side of the curtain, putting them in full view, not that the dining room was crowded.It was early for lunch, but also, Ayana had learned, wealthy people didn’t like to be crammed together with everyone.They wanted attention.Impeccable service.No waiting.
A server bore down on them, a look of polite expectation on his face, but her companion raised a finger, and the server peeled off.
“Maybe I’m here to do the right thing,” she said slowly, as if the words were in a language she was just learning.
“It’s that foreign?”
She grinned—unexpected to be caught out.
“I’ve been on my own since I was sixteen.”Before that she’d also been in survival mode.“It’s second nature to look after myself.”
He didn’t say anything for a long while.And though his gaze appraised her, it wasn’t sexual.And why was that deflating?
“We have that in common, yet I always had Cam.”
“So, friends and colleagues.Business partners.”
