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“No thank you.” Theo smiles at him, the corners of his eyes crinkling, and the waiter smiles back. The man is way too charming for his own good.

The waiter disappears, leaving the two of us alone. Theo takes a sip of his coffee and sighs. “God, I needed this.”

“Late night?” I ask him.

“Met some friends for drinks.” He puts the cup down. Even the saucers have the gold monogram on them.

“I got your note. Thank you.” His gaze captures mine. God, it makes me feel all squirmy. “And once again I’m very sorry about the other night.”

“I’m sorry I blew up at you,” I murmur, feeling shamefaced.

“You had every right to. I should have… explained more. Or come up to see you myself and explain. I regret that.” He takes another sip of coffee.

“And I should have listened instead of blowing up at you in front of your staff and guests.”

“I don’t care about people seeing it,” he says. “I care that I upset you.”

Oh, I like that too much. And from the earnest expression on his face, he’s being truthful. I make a decision there and then. It was a misunderstanding, that was all. He should have said his mother stopped him in the lobby, I shouldn’t have assumed the worst.

Dammit, I’m going to forgive him and hope he does the same.

“Making my room look like Santa’s grotto kind of makes up for everything.” I say, smiling at him. “See, I’m an easy mark.”

His gaze dips to my mouth again. “I don’t think any part of you is easy. And you shouldn’t be. I’m glad you gave me hell. I deserved it.”

Oh. “I mean, if you want me to make a scene again, just give me the word. I can go full screaming harridan in the restaurant.”

He grins. “I think I’ll pass for now if that’s okay.” His voice is low. It feels like a caress.

A woman dressed in a black skirt and jacket walks over. “I’m so sorry,” she says, shooting me an apologetic glance. “I just need to borrow Mr. Hunt for a moment. I’ll bring him right back.”

He glances at me again. “Don’t go anywhere,” he murmurs. “This is Jess by the way. My PA. Jess, this is Georgia.”

“Oh, Jess is the one you were planning to kill the other night, right?” I ask, biting down a smile.

Jess chuckles. “Did he really say that? Was it about the Scrooge Experience?”

“How did you guess?”

“He asked me to book somewhere fun. So I took him at his word.” She shrugs, like she regularly likes to give Theo a hard time. And that there are no reprisals to it.

He lifts a brow at her. “Remind me about that at bonus time.”

“Shut up.” She elbows him in the ribs. “You and I both know you couldn’t live without me. And anyway, I got my bonus last week.”

“Luckily for you,” he grumbles, though I can tell from his voice he’s teasing her. Then he looks at me. “I’ll be back,” he promises.

“See you later, Georgia,” Jess tells me. “Glad you enjoyed the show.”

I take a sip of coffee as she and Theo walk over to an empty corner, the two of them talking rapidly. He puts a hand on her shoulder and nods, his brows dipping as she speaks. It doesn’t look wrong though. More like a boss who cares. Then Jess walks out of the restaurant, and he comes back.

“Sorry about that,” he murmurs, taking his seat. “Jess’ childminder just called in sick. She needs to head home to look after her boy.”

“Oh, I hope he’s okay.”

“He’s fine, just a bug apparently.” He shrugs. “By the way, do you have any idea what five-year-old girls like?”

I blink. “I thought you said she has a son?”