“Not just work. My life is crazy right now,” she said.
“What do you do outside of work? Charities?” he asked. It was what his mother had busied her time with and what his grandmother had, as well.
“You sound a bit disdainful,” she said. “There is nothing wrong with charity work.”
“I know. But the women I knew who spent all their time volunteering rarely had time for their families.”
“Ah, your mom?”
“Mother,” he said. “She didn’t like the informal mom.”
“Really? I don’t know much about your past,” she said.
“Why would you?”
“We’re mortal enemies. I have done a few Google searches on you,” she said with a sparkle in her eye. She took another sip of the water she’d ordered with her main course and smiled over at him. “But the internet was mainly just business-related articles, so tell me more, Dec. Let me know what your kryptonite is.”
“Who says I have a weakness?” he asked.
“Everyone has one.”
“Even lovely blondes?”
“I don’t know about any other blonde, but I definitely have a weakness.”
“Do tell,” he invited.
“Forget it, buddy. We were talking about you,” she said.
Knowing about his past wouldn’t reveal any weakness. To be fair, he doubted he had one. He knew that only if he genuinely cared for something or feared losing it would he then be vulnerable. Therefore, he had nothing to lose.
“Well, my mother and father were very busy people. Mother had her charity work and Father was consumed with trying to please Grandfather on his quest for revenge against your family.”
“Surely they must have made time for you,” she said.
He could see this turning into a sob story if he wasn’t careful, and a woman as softhearted as Cari would eat it up. For a minute he weighed using her emotions to his advantage, but discarded that thought. He didn’t need to cheat or prey on her senses to win. “There were the usual family functions. But we all lived our own lives. It worked for us. Sorry I sounded bitter about charities.”
“It’s okay. I do give money to charities—more than I care to say—but I don’t volunteer. I spend most of my free time at home or shopping on the internet.”
“Truly? I thought you were more social than that,” he said.
“I used to be, but lately, what with you and your cousins gunning for our business, I’ve had other things to concentrate on.”
“I can’t regret it,” he said.
“The chance to finally get one up on my grandfather?” she asked.
Sort of, but for him it was more about winning than settling an old debt. “Not at all. I’m glad we won so that I can spend more time with you.”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s not like you were knocking on my door and I sent you away. Why this sudden interest in me?”
It was the one question he didn’t know how to answer. Not even to himself. He could only say after being so long in Australia and away from everything in the U.S., he’d had a chance to realize that he didn’t necessarily have the same agenda as he used to.
“Maybe it’s you.”
“Yeah, right. Excuse me if I don’t buy that.”
“Well, tonight it is. I intended to pump you for business info—”
“Liar. You said yourself no business.”
“I meant originally, smarty-pants. But once I saw you tonight, I forgot about everything but our night together and regretted I didn’t stay.”
She tucked a tendril of hair behind her ear, where it simply curled back against her cheek again. She nibbled her lower lip and then sighed. “It would have been complicated.”
“Definitely, but I’m very good at managing complications.”
“Oh, I think this one would have thrown even you,” she said.
“Which one?” he asked. He had the feeling sometimes that they were having two different conversations. Part of that he could easily attribute to the fact that she was a woman and he a man and they just communicated differently. But there was more to it than that. Maybe her secrets?
“Us staying together after our night,” she said. “Wasn’t that what you were talking about?”
“Yes, but I meant because my cousins wouldn’t understand it.”
“Fraternizing with the enemy,” she said on a wistful sigh. “That always sounds so romantic until you have to answer to your sisters.”
He laughed. “Yes, it would have been difficult. Maybe I did us a favor by leaving.”
“There is no us,” she reminded him gently. “This is dinner, not a romantic date.”