Page 67 of Talking Dirty with the Billionaire Boss

He just shakes his head and smiles. It’s like being smiled at by a ravenous tiger. He has one more mouthful, then pushes the dish toward me. “Finish up,” he says. “I’ve had enough.”

I have the last bit, conscious of my heart banging on my ribs. It’s a gorgeous dessert, but I’m too nervous to savor it. All I can think about is what’s going to happen when we get back to his apartment.

Cesare appears beside us as I finish scraping out the dish. “Can I get you a coffee?”

Mack looks at me, but I shake my head. “No thanks,” he says. “I think we’re done.”

“That was delicious,” I tell Cesare sincerely.

“Thank you,” he says in his strong Italian accent, as Mack takes out his phone and sends a text, presumably to Jamie. “It was lovely to meet Dr. Hart’s beautiful lady at last.”

“Oh,” I say, flustered. “Mm.”

Mack gives us an amused look, gets up, and takes my hand as we follow Cesare to the counter.

“I’m guessing you won’t let me pay half,” I say to Mack.

He just snorts, taps his Apple watch to the card reader, then slides his hand into his pocket. He extracts it and shakes Cesare’s hand, who then slips whatever Mack just gave him into his own pocket and smiles. It was obviously a tip, presumably a thank you for saving the table for him. I wonder how much he gave him?

“Have a lovely evening sir, ma’am.”

“Goodnight.” Mack leads me out of the restaurant, past all the people waiting, out into the warm night air.

“What did he mean?” I ask, puzzled, as we walk through the pedestrian area toward the road. “It was lovely to meet your lady at last? Surely you’ve taken other girls there before?”

“That wouldn’t be very polite.”

“You didn’t take Felicity there?”

“No.”

“Oh.”

He gives me an amused look. “I rarely saw Felicity outside of Huxley’s.”

“Oh. I thought you two were, like, an item.”

“No,” he says.

Normally I wouldn’t dare mention it, but I’ve had two cocktails, and I’m feeling mischievous. “Victoria told me that Felicity threw a coffee machine through Nadine’s window when you broke it off.”

That earns me an amused look. “Yeah. She somehow talked her way into the office. I had to have stern words with the security guy for that.”

“Really?”

“I like to keep my work very separate from my social life.”

I think about how we sat and had lunch at the table in his office, but I don’t comment on it.

“So you were the one who broke it off?” I ask.

“We hooked up a few times. It wasn’t a relationship. There was nothing to break.”

I suspect her heart might have been, but I don’t say that. Like most men, I guess, Mack can obviously sleep with a woman a few times without involving his emotions, but I’m sure Felicity fell for him immediately. She must have been devastated to lose him if she felt strongly enough to break his office window.

We exit the pedestrian area and see the Aston waiting for us a few cars down. Mack opens the passenger door, and I slip past him into the car.

“Hey Jamie,” I say as Mack goes around the other side.

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