“Would you like to have a drink with me?”
“Is that code for something else?” I asked, amused.
His cheeks reddened. “I could be s
omething else, if you wanted.”
All my girly bits flared to life. I grinned. “Will you respect me in the morning? Or will you vanish in the night, like a bandit.”
“Why don’t you come to my place?”
I studied him.
“If I vanish, you can find me because you know where I live.”
I still watched him, wondering what was happening. I felt like a string was connecting me to him and pulling me toward him.
“I’m not a one-night sort of guy. I like you. And if you don’t want to have that drink, or whatever, tonight, perhaps I can see you tomorrow.”
There was a lot more to Simon Stark, I was realizing. And I very much wanted to dive into those brown eyes and find out all about him.
“I wouldn’t mind a drink.” Or whatever.
Twenty minutes later I was riding up in an elevator to his penthouse overlooking the Missouri River. Would Cinderella have done this the first night she danced with the Prince? Of course, she would.
I tried not to look like I was gawking as I took in the beautiful apartment. I worked to hide my reaction by going to the window and looking out over the night and the river while he poured drinks.
“Do you like the view?” he asked.
I turned and saw him on the couch with a drink. He held out another for me.
“It’s lovely.” I sat next to him, taking the drink.
“To new friends.”
“New friends.” I clicked my glass with his.
“Do you like the city?” he asked.
“Sure. There’s lots to do.” The question felt loaded though. “Don’t you?”
“There’s lots to do.” His words lacked affect.
“But.” I prodded.
He shrugged. “Sometimes it feels crowded.”
“True. There are some lovely small towns in the state for sure.”
We sat quietly for a moment, but it wasn’t awkward. I didn’t feel the need to fill the emptiness. Instead, I felt quite content to sit with him in the dark, looking out over the river while having a drink.
His fingers tugged gently on a tendril of my hair that had escaped my up-do. “I can’t put my finger on it, but there’s something different about you.”
Ut-oh. Was he tapping into the fact that I was poor and not a part of his world? “An air of mystery is nice though, isn’t it?”
He smiled, and again, while it was lovely, it still didn’t quite light up all of his face. “Whatever it is. I like it. It’s more intoxicating than this drink.” He leaned closer to me, pressing a soft kiss on my bare shoulder. It was the gentlest, sweetest, sexiest thing that had ever happened to me.
“I want to devour you,” he said as his lips brushed my skin.