Naked (The Blackstone Affair 1)

“About coming to London?” I shook my head at him. “Never. I love living here. In fact, I’ll be devastated if I don’t get a work visa when I finish my master’s degree. I consider London my home now.”

He smiled at me.

You’re too damn beautiful for your own good, Ethan Blackstone.

“You do fit in here…very well. So well in fact, I wouldn’t have known you weren’t native until you spoke, but even then, American twang and all, you blend right in.”

“A twang, huh?”

“It’s a very nice twang, Miss Bennett.” He grinned across the table, his blues twinkling.

“So, what about you? How did Ethan Blackstone end up as CEO of Blackstone Security International, Ltd.?”

He took a drink of his beer and licked the corner of his mouth, still dressed in a fine dark grey suit for work that definitely cost more than my rent.

“What’s your story, Ethan? And you have a drawl by the way, as opposed to a twang.” I smirked at him.

One sexy eyebrow perked up. “I am the younger of two children. It was just my dad growing up for my sister and me. He drove a London cab and took me with him when I didn’t have school.”

“That’s why you didn’t need directions to find my flat,” I said. “And I’ve heard about the test the London cabbies have to take on all the streets. It’s gargantuan.”

He smiled at me again. “That would be The Knowledge. Very good, Miss Bennett. For an American you are quite up on your cultural facts of Britain.”

I shrugged. “I saw a show about it. Was pretty funny actually.” Realizing I’d distracted him from the conversation, I said, “Sorry for interrupting. So what did you do after you finished school?”

“I went into military training. Did that for six years. Left. Started my company with the help of contacts I’d made while enlisted.” He looked at me longingly again, seeming to have no inclination to keep talking.

“What branch of the military?”

“Special Forces, mostly reconnaissance.” He didn’t offer any more details but he grinned at me.

“You are not very forthcoming, Mr. Blackstone.”

“If I tell you any more, I’d have to kill you, and that would just blow my promise all to shit.”

“What promise?” I asked innocently.

“That I’m not a serial killer,” he said as he popped a piece of steak into his beautiful mouth and started chewing.

“Thank the gods! The idea of eating a plate of beef with a serial killer would have totally killed this date for me.”

He swallowed his meat and then smiled at me. “Very funny, Miss Bennett. You are a wit.”

“Why, thank you, Mr. Blackstone, I try very hard to be.” He disarmed me with his charm so effortlessly I really had to work to keep him on task. Ethan could turn a conversation to his advantage in an instant. “What do you do at your company?”

“Security mostly, for the British government and some private international patrons. Right now we are swamped with the Olympics. With so many people coming from all over into London—especially in our post nine eleven world—it’s a challenge.”

“I bet.”

He pointed at my salad with his knife. “I bring you to the best place in town for a Mayfair steak, and what do you do?” He shook his head at me. “You order a salad.”

I laughed. “It has some steak in it. Anyway, I can’t help it. I don’t like to be predictable.”

“Well you’re very good at being unpredictable, Miss Bennett.” He winked at me and took another bite of his steak.

“Can I ask you a personal question, Ethan?”

“I get the feeling you’re about to,” he said dryly.