Billionaire Bad Boys of Romance 2(79)
“I’ll drink to that.” I tapped his glass with mine then sipped. The wine was delicious. Not too dry. Not too sweet. Just right. Crisp but smooth.#p#分页标题#e#
He reached across the table and lifted the cover from my plate, revealing small portions of delicious-smelling food, presented gourmet-style. “Please, before it gets cold.”
I waited for him to uncover his own plate before I lifted a fork. I went for a green bean first.
Delicious. So was the meat--some kind beef.
“Tell me,” I said between bites, “how often do you come out here? Isn’t landscaping very hard work?”
“It is. But I try to balance work and play. I believe it’s important not just to live for work.”
“I see. You must have a very large business.”
“It’s large enough.”
For him to fly around the state and play whenever he wished? For him to end up on Marguerite’s radar? Large enough had to be pretty darn large.
He studied me for a moment, eyes narrowing slightly. “You’re skeptical? What do you suspect me of lying about?”
“Well…now that you mention it.” I took another nibble of meat. Wow, was that good. “I’ve never met a landscaper who lived like this.”
“Ah. Okay, would it make you feel any better if I admitted I not only dabble in real estate—which I already told you--but I’d also inherited a small sum from a relative?”
“Yes.” So he did have money of his own. It wasn’t just his cousin and friend.
“Okay. Then I will admit that much.”
“May I ask another question?” I asked.
“Sure.”
“Since my employer knows you well enough to want you to sign with Premier, why didn’t you tell me about the inheritance from the start?”
“Because I really do own a landscaping company, and I’ve worked hard to make it grow. Call me shallow, but I’d rather be recognized for what I’ve accomplished—“
“Than what you’ve inherited?” I finished for him, understanding where he was coming from.
“Yes, exactly. I can take you to our headquarters sometime, and show you around if you like…on our second date?” His grin was one hundred percent wicked. In a good way.
I couldn’t help it, my face flushed. First, because of the way he was looking at me, but also because he’d admitted to caring about what I thought. And telling me he wanted another date.
Me. Was it possible that he was genuinely interested in me? Was I wrong, assuming he’d insisted on the silly proposal because he was playing some kind of game with me?
I set my hand on my cheek, hoping to hide the fact that I was blushing. “Are you asking me out on another date already?”
“I am.”
“But you barely know anything about me yet. And you haven’t kept your end of the bargain. You do remember our agreement?”
“Well,” his grin was sheepish now. Charming. A little boyish. “I was sort of hoping you’d forget about that part after today.”
I shook my head giving him an oh-no-I-didn’t look.
“Okay. I guess I underestimated you.”
“Many men have made that mistake.”
“Interesting.” He tipped his head. “How many?”
My warm cheeks became even hotter. “Enough,” I lied. In truth, I’d had very little experience with men.
“You’re so guarded. Secretive. Do you ever give a complete answer to a question?”
“Only when it’s absolutely necessary,” I admitted. “Now, back to the subject at hand. I went on this date, so you owe me one Premier event.” I illustrated by raising my right index finger. “It’s one for one.”
“Fine. When is the next ‘event’ again?”
“This coming Friday.”
“What time?”
“Six. It’s a mixer-slash-speed dating session.”
“I’ll be there.”
“Good.”
I had him! Thank God! I wouldn’t be fired. Assuming I would get at least a three month contract out of this deal, Tevin’s contract alone would be worth tens of thousands of dollars to Premier. All I had to was seal the deal. I wasn’t going to do anything until I had that contract in my hands.
No matter, what it took.
Chapter 4
“I brought these. You’ll need to fill them all out before Friday.” Trying desperately to hide my excitement, I pulled a folded manila envelope out of my bag and handed it to the man seated opposite me.
Tevin Page, Premier’s soon-to-be-signed client, arched a brow.
“It’s an application,” I explained.
Still giving me a funny look, he flipped up the flap and pulled out the small stack of documents. Skimming it, he grumbled, “This is some application. I think I filled out less paperwork to buy my house.”