ONE NIGHT WITH MORELLI by KIM LAWRENCE

Author:KIM LAWRENCE, [LAWRENCE,, KIM]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: ROMANCE
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2014-10-01T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER NINE

FIVE MINUTES LATER they were being shown to their table by an attentive Italian waiter who at Draco’s request conversed in English.

‘In case you thought we were talking about you.’

‘Very funny. Is that man really your driver…?’

Draco looked at her curiously. ‘Carl…? What do you think he is?’

‘A bodyguard?’

Draco’s throaty laugh caused several heads to turn. She covered her glass with her hand. ‘I’m working.’

‘It’s your birthday.’

The battle was short, as the constant bickering was tiring. It might be better, she decided, to save her energy for the important points…and anyway a glass of wine might help soothe her jangling nerves.

She tipped her head. ‘All right, just a small one.’ Actually there were worse ways to spend your birthday than sitting in a really good restaurant with a man whom every woman in the room had stared at when he walked in, though she imagined that the novelty would wear thin pretty quickly and it might even cause the odd jealous twinge to be with a man so universally lusted after. She angled a glance at his face. Was he really as oblivious as he seemed to all the lustful stares…?

‘No, Carl is my driver.’

‘So you don’t have a bodyguard?’ she probed, unable to hide her curiosity.

‘The best sort of security is the sort people don’t see.’

She put down her fork and leaned back in her seat, cradling her glass. ‘That’s not an answer.’

His response to her indignation was a slow, lazy grin. ‘It is the only one I am giving.’ He sat back in his chair and watched her make serious inroads into the rustic pasta dish she had chosen.

‘This is really good.’ Eve took another sip of her wine, determined to make it last. She glanced at his plate. ‘Steak is a bit safe.’ He had only eaten half of it. ‘How did we get this table anyway?’

‘I know the owner.’

She had suspected it must be something like that. ‘The one who owns the entire chain?’

He nodded. ‘That’s right.’

‘They’re everywhere now but when I was in Paris last year it had just opened, and the place was heaving.’

She broke off as the manager approached.

‘Sir…’ he tipped his head to include Eve ‘…miss, I hope the meal was satisfactory?’

‘It was delicious,’ she said.

‘We’re happy customers,’ Draco added.

There was something she couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but the manager’s manner when he spoke to Draco and Draco’s manner when he replied…and then it came to her.

She waited until the older man had gone before testing her theory.

‘Are you the owner?’

He didn’t even blink. ‘For the past two years.’

Her dark brows knitted as she straightened her cutlery, once, twice and then once more. She was bewildered by her inability to hold eye contact with him without feeling shivery and self-conscious.

‘It didn’t occur to you to mention it?’

‘No.’ Elbows set on the table, he leaned forward. ‘So are you going home?’

‘Home?’

‘For your birthday.’

Eve retreated behind her wine glass. ‘I have no home.’

‘Boo-hoo! Wow, you really do have a chip on your shoulder, don’t you?’

She responded to the callous charge angrily.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.