"The man likes theater." She hip-bumped him. "Maybe I'll talk you into taking me to a show."
He cocked his head, trying to decide if she was serious. "I have a friend with connections," he said. "I think I can score orchestra seats to pretty much anything you want."
"I guess that earns you points in the Keeper column," she said, but before he could study her face and get a read on her, she'd spun around in response to the quick beep of a car horn. With a wave, she hurried to the car stand, then greeted Amelia and Ernest as they left the car with the valet.
"So good to see you," Ernest said to Matthew, then began to wax poetic about a political luncheon they'd attended that afternoon to benefit an up-and-coming gubernatorial candidate. "Politics are a hideous business," he continued, once they were seated and the wine had been poured. "But once you're in the quicksand, it's hard to get out. How about you, Matthew? Any interest in politics?"
"Not particularly." He had a feeling that wasn't Ernest Pierpont's ideal response, but since there was no way that Matthew could fake knowing a damn thing about politics, it was the only answer he could give.
"I suppose not," Ernest said. "Not much need when you're an uneducated man running a gym, is there."
Matthew had been lifting his glass, but now he froze, his glance catching Hannah's panicked one.
"He's--"
"A gym owner, just like you said," Matthew put in, trying to keep his voice level and smooth. He took a sip of wine, mostly to let himself think. "I owe you an apology for misrepresenting myself. Hannah wanted to tell you what I do from the beginning, but I was nervous. She argued that I've supported myself since I was sixteen. That I started with a five-thousand-dollar loan from my parents and now have no debt and three established gyms in Austin, and even own the building downtown, which, frankly, is a prime piece of real estate."
He drew a breath, amazed that he was thinking and speaking clearly when his nerves were humming and his heart was pounding so hard it felt like he'd done a hundred-meter dash.
"She said that you'd respect me as an entrepreneur," he continued, not looking at Ernest's face, because if he did he'd surely lose his nerve. "That you'd see the same thing in me that you saw in Amelia--in how she worked her way up after being widowed as a single mother."
Beneath the table, Hannah's fingers dug into his thigh. He took another sip of wine, resisting the urge to look at Hannah. "She told me that a man like you--a man who understood people and business would respect what I've done. And after talking with you at your home, I realize that she was right. But before meeting you, sir--well, I confess that you intimidated me. And I made the decision to lie. To be the man I believed you wanted for your daughter, and not the man I truly am."
One more sip of wine. One more deep breath. And then he really did look Ernest straight in the eye. "I hope you can forgive me for underestimating you, sir. I assure you, Hannah never did."
"Well." Ernest leaned back, then looked between him and Hannah. "Well," he said again.
"My, my," Amelia said. "I can't remember the last time I've seen you speechless." She winked at Matthew. "I think you impressed him."
"That you did, son." He turned his attention to Hannah. "You picked yourself a good man, Hannah."
"Yes," she said, with her hand still on his thigh. "I really think I did."
"That fifty grand is in a CD that doesn't come due for another year. But I've got fifty I can turn liquid by next week. We'll be back in town Wednesday evening. How about I bring you a cashier's check then?"
The hand on his leg tightened so much it almost cut off his circulation, but Hannah's facial expression never faltered. She kept calm, smiled, and thanked Ernest and her mother before lifting her wine in a toast to them.
She kept her hand on Matthew's thigh for the rest of dinner, only taking it away when absolutely necessary. And partly because of that--and par
tly because of the massive release of adrenaline after that speech, which qualified as the longest in his entire life, Matthew remembered absolutely nothing about the rest of the dinner except that he ate steak, had a bite of Hannah's cheesecake, and received a hearty pat on the back before Ernest and Amelia returned to their car and their hotel.
"We're heading back to Dallas before dawn," Amelia said. "But we'll see you next week when we bring the check to Hannah."
"Sounds great," Matthew said, hoping against hope that he developed a mild case of Ebola before then. Because honestly, he didn't think he could take a repeat performance.
"Hey," Hannah said as her parents' car pulled away. "Thanks so much for coming tonight. I was worried when Ernest called you out about the gym, but you turned it around beautifully. That was seriously impressive."
"And you're getting your money."
She grinned at him, her face lit up like a kid at Christmas. "I owe you big time for that."
"You would have gotten it eventually."
She shook her head. "Eventually is useless. Thursday is the last day we can back out of the lease and still get back the money we put down back. So knowing I'll have the cash on Wednesday and can tell Easton I'm truly in as a full partner? Well, it couldn't be more perfect."
He reached out and took both her hands, then looked into her smiling face. "It was my absolute pleasure."
"So, I was wondering..."