/>
“Why not?”
“It’s not exactly fine dining.”
“So? You seem to forget I come from South Boston. I grew up on beans and stew.”
“Boston baked beans?” she asks, smiling.
“One and the same.”
“No chains like this when I was growing up, but we had some great little mom-and-pop restaurants in the nearby small towns. Not fine dining, but delicious food where everyone knew everyone else. We had this amazing Mexican restaurant run by a couple who’d emigrated twenty years previously. The best Mexican food ever. The stuff here can’t compare.”
“Esteban’s is yuppy Mexican food,” I say. “But it’s still decent.”
“True.”
The server returns with the menus. She glances over hers.
“Eat hearty, Skye,” I say. “You’re going to burn a lot of calories tonight.”
Chapter Forty-Four
As soon as we enter my penthouse, I attack her next to the elevator, kissing her hard and deep.
Then my phone buzzes.
Fuck.
Probably Dimitri, which means I’m going to New York. Fuck.
I break the kiss.
“Ignore it,” she whispers.
So tempting.
“I can’t. I’m sorry. I’m expecting an important call.”
“At nine thirty?”
I don’t answer, just pull my phone out. “Black,” I say, walking toward the living room.
Skye follows me, but a few seconds later, I walk away from her and into my office, closing the door. I don’t need her distracting me right now.
“So…?”
“No dice,” Dimitri says. “I did my best. I answered every fucking question he had with as much knowledge as anyone could possibly possess, but he’s one of those sticklers who thinks his shit don’t stink. He won’t talk to anyone but the big boss.”
“It’s okay, Dimitri. Thanks for trying.”
“If it’s any consolation, everyone else is good with going through me. Foster McCain’s the only problem.”
“Don’t worry about it. This is the first time McCain’s even agreed to a meeting. I should have stayed in New York.”
The truth of my own words hits me like an anvil to the head.
I should have stayed in New York. I knew how important this meeting was, and I also knew McCain might be a problem.