Page 27 of The Hacker
Shock made her stare. He didn’t drink overpriced wine on his expense account? “Don’t you have to take clients out to dinner and stuff?”
“Not if I can avoid it.”
Her perspective on him tilted.
She suddenly noticed that the driver had already opened her door and stood patiently waiting for her to get out. “Sorry,” she muttered, scrambling sideways.
She remembered to make sure her feet were on level ground before she stood up. She wore black ankle boots with high stiletto heels, which required more attention to balance than her standard foot attire. She smoothed her hands down the front of her slim-cut jeans and checked that her black silk blouse was still buttoned up so that the lace edge of her bra didn’t show. The silk was so slippery that the buttons had a tendency to slip out of their holes at inopportune moments. However, she had decided to risk it since this was her first dinner with Leland and she didn’t have a lot else fancy to wear.
She watched him stride around the limo with a bottle of wine in each hand, the muscles that she now knew so well outlined by his dark-blue T-shirt. The way light slid over the fabric made her think that he hadn’t bought it in a three-for-nineteen-dollars deal. “What kind of beer do you like?” she asked.
He stopped. “I’m good with wine. I should get more familiar with it anyway.”
“I’m just curious about the beer.”
He opened his arms to his sides in a gesture of apology. “I hate to admit it but I’m happiest with a Budweiser.”
“Huh,” she said. “Maybe wecanbe friends.”
Chapter 7
Friends.The word felt like a smack of cold water in his face. He’d thought ... no, he’d been sure that Dawn wanted more than that. God knows, he did. Their training sessions had ratcheted up his desire for her to the point where even the brush of her ponytail sent a jolt of arousal to his balls.
Shifting a wine bottle to the crook of his arm, he held open the door to the restaurant and let his gaze linger on her back as she walked in front of him. Tonight she’d left her hair loose, the first time he’d seen it that way. The straight dark fall of it gleamed like satin as it swung slightly with her movement, and he wanted to feel it sifting through his fingers. He followed her tresses down to where they ended above her waist and then allowed his gaze to rove over the swell of her butt. He wanted to toss the wine bottles away and fill his palms with those delicious curves before he pulled her back to settle against his now hardening cock.
Somewhere through the haze of his lust, he heard the hostess greet Dawn like an old friend, tell her the table was ready, and to come this way. He tore his eyes away from the sway of Dawn’s hips, so delectably wrapped in the tight denim of her jeans, and glanced around the packed, candlelit restaurant as they walked toward the back corner. Servers dressed in white shirts and black trousers sped between tables with food-filled white china plates lined up on their arms. Conversation and laughter filled the room without being overpowering. A smooth male voice sang something vaguely old-fashioned that blended with the clink of silverware and glasses. The kitchen door swung open and a spate of fast-paced Italian spilled out.
He felt an unexpected sense of ease here. Maybe it was the aroma of hearty cuisine and the rhythm of a foreign language that almost sounded like the Spanish his mother had spoken.
The hostess put the menus on the checked tablecloth. Leland plunked down the wine bottles so he could pull out the chair for Dawn. He wanted the excuse to get close enough to inhale her scent through the admittedly mouthwatering smell of the food. He bent as she sat and filled his lungs with her. His cock twitched.
As he settled in the chair across from her, Dawn leaned forward. “I asked for a corner table so we could talk without worrying.”
“Let’s put aside the espionage for now,” he said. “I’d like to focus on something pleasanter.”
“Carmella’s food is more than pleasant. It’s fantastic.”
He decided to take a risk. “I meant you.”
She looked down at the closed menu lying on the table. Her skin glowed golden in the candlelight and his fingers itched to feel the texture of it.
It took her a long moment but she finally lifted her gaze to meet his, the dark pools of her eyes catching the flicker of the flame. “As long as I can focus right back on you.” The huskiness in her voice licked through his veins.
Not friends after all.He let his lips curl into a satisfied smile. “That’s a condition I can agree to.”
He saw her take a deep breath, the swell of her breasts lifting the black fabric of her blouse. “So tell me where you grew up,” she said. “Somewhere down south, it sounds like.”
A shock of surprise made him straighten in his chair. He hadn’t expected a question reaching back into his childhood. None of the other women he’d dated had been interested in more than his current status as a successful businessman. Maybe that was why those relationships hadn’t lasted.
“I grew up in Atlanta, Georgia.” Short and revealing nothing.
“That explains the sexy southern drawl.” She gave him a provocative little smile that stroked right down to his gut. “Where did you go to school?”
Relief surged at the interruption as a server walked up with a corkscrew to open the Barolo. Dawn called the waitress by name and asked about her baby while Leland debated how brief he could continue to keep his answers.
As soon as the server left, Leland said, “I went to public school until the ninth grade. After that I attended Burnes-Fielding Academy.” He lifted the glass and took a sip, rolling the Barolo over his tongue while he culled some memories of a wine-tasting class he’d taken while at business school. “I detect notes of oak, tannin, and leather, but mostly fermented grapes.”
Dawn wrinkled her nose. “Why would anyone want wine to taste like leather?” She swirled the garnet-colored liquid in her glass before she took a sip. “I’m with you on the fermented grapes, but really good ones.” She set her glass down. “Did you live at Burnes-Fielding Academy?”
