There was a mischievous glint in Sally’s eyes, but Logan glared at her.
Michel guffawed and clapped his hands. ‘Ah, but tonight my good friend has surpassed himself.’
‘Be careful, Michel.’ Logan was compelled to set the record straight. ‘Sally is a colleague and tonight’s dinner is a—a business dinner.’
Throwing up his hands in horror, Michel cried, ‘A business dinner on a Friday night? What a terrible thought. Logan, I thought you were much more sensitive than that.’
Despite his discomfort, Logan managed to grin. ‘OK, mate, I won’t insult you. It’s impossible to discuss business with such amazing food as yours.’
‘So, Sallee,’ Michel said, adding charming emphasis to the second syllable, ‘what do you think? Was your mind totally focused on business tonight? Or were you swept away by my brilliance in the kitchen?’
‘Oh, from the moment I stepped through the door, I was totally, totally swept away.’
‘Yes, yes!’ Michel grinned widely and leapt to his feet. ‘You see, Logan. This wonderful woman, she understands. And I was watching from the kitchen, you know.’ He tapped the side of his arrogant French nose with a long forefinger and grinned. ‘We all know that this was no business dinner.’
If Michel saw Logan’s gritted teeth and clenched jaw, he made no sign, but perhaps the chef knew he’d played this to the hilt and that it was time to depart. Taking Sally’s hand, he kissed it once more, gave Logan a parting salute, then abruptly returned to his kitchen.
‘Bit over the top, wasn’t he?’ Logan muttered when they were alone once more.
‘I guess he’s allowed to be when he produces such fabulous food.’
‘I thought you might have been embarrassed that yet another person latched on to the wrong idea about us. It’s annoying when we’ve both been clear from the start that this wasn’t a date.’
She didn’t meet his gaze, gave a small shrug. ‘I don’t think we’ve done anything or said anything tonight that crossed the line between a business arrangement and a date, do you?’
‘No, no, of course not.’
Eyes still lowered, Sally fiddled with the napkin on her lap.
Anxious that the evening didn’t end on a bad note, Logan tried to make amends. ‘It’s all a game with Michel. He’s French and he’s a hopeless romantic. He likes to think his little restaurant can turn total strangers into lovers at one sitting.’
Sally offered a tiny smile. ‘Don’t worry. I was joking about being carried away. I know very well that it takes more than a dinner date for two people to fall in love.’
Logan was sure that this comment should have given him comfort, but was dismayed that he felt even worse.
CHAPTER NINE
OUTSIDE the restaurant, a chilling breeze whipped at Sally’s hair and she wished she felt happier after such a magical evening. She’d adored every moment of Logan’s company, and she’d watched him relax, had seen the way his gorgeous smile lingered more and more often, had seen the glow in his eyes when he’d looked at her.
It had seemed such a fitting sequel to earlier this evening, when Logan had taken her to meet Hattie and he’d shown her the softer side she’d always suspected. Better still, he hadn’t tried to hide his pleasure that his grandmother liked Sally. And now it appeared that he wasn’t in a serious relationship with another woman.
Barriers had been tumbling left and right and, at some deeply intuitive level, Sally had sensed that this evening had been special for both of them. No matter how loudly they tried to deny it, strong threads of attraction had been drawing them closer and closer.
But at the end, with the chef’s arrival, the delicate balance had been upset. It was as if she’d been weaving a wonderful fiction, but had suddenly been forced to face bald facts. Wake up, Sally Finch! Tonight has been a fairy tale. The boss and his front desk girl are not going to have a meaningful romance.
Now, as the lights of the restaurant narrowed to yellow dots in the distance, the truth of her situation became plainer to Sally. She’d finally become relaxed and confident around her boss, but somehow, in the process, she’d forgotten that he was unattainable. She was playing out of her league.
The annoying thing was that deep down she had known that. She and Logan were poles apart and a country bumpkin, newly arrived in the big smoke, could not expect to capture the heart of a high-flying corporate executive. Sydney was overflowing with women who operated on Logan’s wavelength, business and professional women with a great deal more to offer a man than mere chatting and dancing skills.