Chapter 24
In a dining area, with live jazz floating around them, Adrian is seated on the other side of the table across from Beth who looks so beautiful he can barely think straight.
His heart rate hasn’t gone down since she arrived at dinner in a light beige dress with straps so thin he can barely make out against her glowing skin. The material looks soft, and it hugs tight all over her body while dipping loosely across her breasts. Her plunging cleavage makes an appearance only when she reaches or leans in certain positions, making the night a game of silently anticipating her every movement.
“I can’t believe you were able to get a reservation here so last minute.”
Adrian forces his eyes from her neckline and looks at her. “Why?”
“From what I’ve heard, reservations are booked months in advance.”
“Well, it wasn’t difficult,” he says. “I own the hotel.”
“Of course you do,” she says, rolling her eyes.
He laughs. “Did you just roll your eyes at me, Ms. Parsons?”
“Is there anything you don’t own, Mr. Dane? What happened to your little technology empire?”
“My empire is not little at all,” he says with a chuckle. “And I believe there’s strength in having a varied portfolio.”
“And, to answer your first question,” he says, reaching for her hand. “At the moment, everything I want is mine.”
Her cheeks flush and she tilts her head away in an attempt to hide it. He follows her gaze as it travels to the window. They’re the only guests on the terrace dining area at the Emerald Harbor Hotel. The hotel is just a few blocks from the ocean, so from where they’re seated, they can see the sea buzzing with its dormant strength as the waves gently drench the sand.
He watches her, admiring how the sun highlights her round cheekbones and her perfect lips.
A man in a tailored suit steps onto the terrace and approaches them, a bottle of wine propped onto a white cloth over his forearm. He tries to attend to Adrian first but Adrian motions for him to start with Beth.
“Madame?”
Beth turns to the sommelier with a look of confusion.
He places the bottle on the table and opens it with a manual wine corker. He splashes the slightest bit of red into the bottom of her glass. When she only smiles up at him, he raises an eyebrow.
“Oh, right.” She lifts the wine and sips. “Yes, um, it’s perfect.”
He fills her glass, then Adrian’s, and finally retreats leaving the bottle with them.
“That was stressful,” she mumbles.
Adrian chuckles. “Don’t worry. You were perfect.”
“I doubt that.” She takes another sip of her wine. “This is amazing; the burst of fruitiness and the soft tannins underneath.”
“Château Sedacca. I’ll get you some.”
She frowns slightly. “No. You don’t have to.”
“I do. I get you anything you want. Anything you need.”
“Not everything can be bought,” she says.
“No,” he agrees, looking hard at her. “But I stand by my promise.”
Her frown deepens.
“Is something wrong?”
“It’s just… I feel like I don’t know you. And for this to work, I need to know more about you.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Hmm.” She leans back to let two servers gracefully set down our first course. “Tell me about your family.”
He lifts his hands. “Well, I’m one of three children. I have a brother and a sister. My sister’s a college student who still lives with my parents and my brother is a doctor who just got engaged.”
She raises a brow. “Okay?”
“What?”
“Is that all you’re going to tell me?”
“What do you mean?”
She drops her spoonful and laughs. “Come on. I didn’t ask for a two line summary.”
He can’t help joining in her laughter. “Okay. Okay. My sister, Alya, is the baby of the house. She’s a computer science major. She’s pretty much a child in an adult body. She turned down my parents’ suggestion to get her an apartment closer to school. Hence why she still lives with them. And she won’t quit bugging me to get her an internship.”
“Let me guess. You refused because you wanted her to work for it.” Her eyes twinkle playfully. “To earn it,” she adds in a deeper voice which Adrian guesses is meant to be an imitation of his.
He laughs out loud, shocking himself. “You know me so well.” He shrugs playfully. “Then there’s my younger brother, Vincent. He’s a travelling doctor. Or was. He’s looking to settle down now that he’s engaged.”
“Wow. I definitely pegged you as an only child. But I guess you as an eldest sibling makes more sense.”
“What does that mean?”
“You seem like a born leader. I mean you started such a successful company straight out of college.”
“I did, but the success of the company has more to do with my family than any personal attributes. The company wouldn’t be anywhere without them. And I’m hardly a leader anyway, I just understand numbers and business. I leave most of the ‘leading’ to Colin.”
“Wow. You sound so different from the man I interviewed two months ago.” She smiles. “I love it.”
Adrian winces slightly. He’s still the same asshole he was then. He feels ashamed for making her think otherwise.
“What are your parents like?” she asks, not noticing his turmoil.
“My mom is a meddler, but I know she means well. And my father is a lawyer who loves beer and offers a constant supply of dad jokes. Even though they drive me crazy sometimes, they are pretty wonderful.” he says with a crooked smile.
“That’s what family is for I guess,” she says, amusement lingering in her voice.
“Well, my family transcends the norm. My grandparents have a dozen children so my family is as large as it gets.”
“I love big families. I always wished to be part of a big family. My mum is an only child and I have no connection to my dad’s family.” She shrugs. “I’ve come to love my family of three but I would like to have a big family someday. At least three little ones close in age, maybe a golden retriever –a really full house.”
She pauses suddenly. “Gosh, I’ve been blabbing. What about you? Do you want a big or small family?”
Adrian’s smile falters. He wouldn’t have imagined their conversation would lead here. This isn’t the first time the subject has come up with women he’s been with. Having the subject raised by a woman had been a red flag. The mention of any long-term plans meant their expectations were too much, and it was time to call it quits. But it doesn’t feel the same with Beth. She isn’t some fuck buddy he wants to run away from.
He cares about what she wants. And, worse, he knows he’ll give it to her, whatever it is. Breakfast, a foot rub, a life of luxury. But no matter what happens between them, he isn’t a man who can offer more than a little fun. Okay, a lot of fun. But still, nothing more.
“I’m sorry. Did I say something wrong?”
He looks away for a minute and then stares down when he finally starts to speak. “No. It’s okay,” he says, giving her a polite smile.
He watches the play of emotions across her features and guesses the direction of her thoughts.
He averts his gaze, spinning his wineglass on the tablecloth. “I guess I’ve never seen myself as the settling down type.”
She looks down. “Oh.”
Fuck. This isn’t how today was meant to go. They’ve had such a great night, he hadn’t planned for the night to take a turn, bringing such an immediate and sudden halt to the excitement of what was growing between them. “Beth. Please look at me.” He reaches across the table and lifts her chin. “That doesn’t affect what’s between us.”
Her eyes stay locked on his. He gets the feeling she’s waiting for him to say more. Even he can hear how contradictory he sounds. Of course this changes things. She wants the one thing he can never give her. There’s no middle ground when it comes to having a family—you either want one or you don’t.
“I didn’t mean to catch you off guard or upset you. I’m sorry.”
She shakes her head and gives him a faint smile. “It’s okay. There’s nothing to be sorry about. It was sort of out of place for me to ask anyway.”
She looks at him and then down at her food. There are a few minutes of awkward silence after that. Eventually, a waiter approaches with a tray of desserts and the mood lightens a bit.
“Did you just squeal?”
“I did no such thing,” she says in a mock-serious tone. “Okay, maybe I did. I just really love caramel-chocolate cheesecake. Definitely my favorite dessert.”
“It’s my favorite too.”
Her eyes widen. “Now I need to know all your favorite things.”
Even though things still feel a bit off, he can’t help laughing at her expression. “I think my favorite snack would be…” He places two fingers on his chin like he’s really considering his answer. “Dessert named Beth.”
Her mouth widens and she covers it with a hand. She laughs, and the sound fills him and he can’t help but think that if he only makes bad decisions for the rest of his life, at least he’s made one really good decision with her.