Mr. Big Shot (Mr. Big 1)

"They're one of a kind, if that's the case," Luke said. “Half of all marriages end in divorce. Even second ones. It's a wasteland of broken hearts. I honestly don't know how people keep hoping one will stick."

I watched him while he sopped up some sauce with a piece of bread. He was really closed to the idea of a happy marriage whereas it was high on my list of must-haves in life. As easily as we got along with each other, as attracted as I was to him, I knew that there would never be anything between us. I'd have to protect myself from feeling anything but lust for him because he was out of reach for anything else.

"That's a very sad way to look at love," I said finally, turning back to my own meal. "You must be lonely."

"Not at all," he said and sat up a bit straighter. "I'm too busy to feel lonely. I have good friends. I have an amazingly successful business and am soon to be a bona-fide tycoon." He gave me a wicked grin. "And I'm going to be on my yacht on my way to the Galapagos with my best buds in the world as soon as I can get it built. Who's lonely?"

"I guess," I said and sighed. Maybe it was me who was lonely, but I didn’t feel it. "I'm too busy to be lonely as well," I said, "with my classes and studying and part time job as a teaching assistant. There's barely any time in the day that I can just flake out and do nothing."

"So what are your future plans?"

I shrugged and picked up a piece of meatball. "Get my PhD and get on the tenure track. Maybe work for a think tank in Washington or New York, for the UN. I won't consider settling down until I'm firmly ensconced in a good job in Europe."

"Europe?" he said and made a face. "Why not the good old USA?"

"I could say the same to you," I said and smiled. "Why Mars?"

"Touché," he replied.

We finished our meal, talking about Chatter and the pending deal, how he and John started the business and how successful it became – beyond any of their expectations.

When we were finished, he checked his watch then paid the bill with his credit card. When the waitress brought back the receipt he looked in my eyes. "Well, I guess I better go. I have another hour of work to do before I go home."

"You're going back to the office at this time of night?"

"It's only eight," he said with a laugh. "I usually work until ten. I'll be slacking off if I go home at nine. Plus we have a meeting about the deal, so…"

"What a life," I said and we got up to leave. "I'm done with work until next month when I start my research for my thesis."

"What are you going to do in between then and now?"

I shrugged. "Well, I'm going to be going to Westhampton for a weekend of performance art."

He grinned. "After that," he said and opened the door for me. We walked to the vehicle.

"I am a free woman," I said. "Two weeks of glorious doing nothing at all. Maybe I'll binge watch some House of Cards."

"Would you take a trip back to Oregon and see your parental units?"

"Parental units," I said with a laugh. "No, not likely."

"Why not?" he asked and opened my door. We got inside and he started the car.

I didn’t answer right away. I didn't want to get into the whole bad relationship that I was trying to escape back in Oregon.

"Reasons," I said and made a face. "Reasons I don’t really want to talk about."

He frowned. "Are you a wanted criminal back in Oregon?"

"It has nothing to do with me being a criminal. Someone else, but let's not talk about it, okay?"

Even thinking about it made my body tense and my heart rate increase.

"Sorry," he said and held up his hand. "Say no more. I won't pry."

We drove off.

"I'd love to go and see my mom and dad but I can't. Maybe they'll come out East for a visit."