Billionaire Romance Boxed Set 2(26)

“I’ll make sure to put it on my Christmas list,” I said, leaning back in my seat.

The drive was a short one, taking us to a place downtown that I’d walked past many times, never even considering the possibility that I might eat there someday. It was sleek and elegant, more along the lines of what I had been expecting on our first date. While the Inn was lovely and comfortable, this looked more like the sort of place a high-powered businessman would propose to his supermodel wife.

Or me, as the case might be.

When we pulled up to the curb, Daniel jumped out of the car and quickly ran to my side, opening my door before I had a chance. He gave me his hand to help me out. As we walked arm-in-arm up the steps that led to the entrance, I could feel eyes on me.

I really should have gotten my hair done.

The host looked up and smiled when we walked in the door. “Mr. Thorne, we have your table right over here. Please follow me.”

I had never felt more awkward in my life - and that was saying something. Walking between the booths and tables of the fanciest restaurant in the city, I tried to keep my eyes focused on the wall directly in front of me, but I knew people were watching me. Of course they were. Who wouldn’t? I looked like a little girl playing dress up in Mommy’s fancy clothes. It was absurd to think I could ever fit in an environment like this. No matter how much money Daniel spent on me, I’d always stand out as someone who was just pretending.

“Here you are, sir. Ma’am.” The host handed us our menus. “Your server will be with you in a moment.”

“Thank you, Tom.” Daniel laid his menu down on the table, unopened. “Before you decide on anything, I recommend waiting to hear the specials. They’re always seasonal and fresh as it gets.”

“Thanks,” I said. I didn’t feel like looking at my menu anyway. I didn’t feel like eating, for that matter.

The server came back shortly, prattling on about braised this and locally grown that. I ordered something I hardly understood, and he came back shortly with a bottle of white wine. As he poured us both a glass, I forced a smile at Daniel, acutely aware that we were being watched. Hopefully, if I looked strange, it would pass as the anxiety of a woman who was expecting to be proposed to, but was still unsure if it would really happen or not.

“Nice place, isn’t it?” Daniel said, and I realized that I hadn’t spoken in a long time.

“Yes,” I said. “It’s very…it’s very classy.”

“Not the sort of place you eat every day.” Daniel poured himself a second glass of wine. “But, it’s nice for special occasions.”

“You could eat here every day,” I said. “If you wanted to.”

He looked down at his napkin, unfolding and spreading it over his lap with exaggerated slowness so he wouldn’t have to meet my eyes. To anyone listening it would probably sound like an innocent comment, but he and I both knew it was calculated to annoy him.

He didn’t speak again until our entrées came. I had some sort of fish that was perfectly done, sweet and flaky, with crisp young asparagus and risotto on the side. I ate as much of it as I could manage, even though it seemed to turn to sand in my mouth. My throat was very dry. I finished the last of the wine, and Daniel gestured for another bottle.

After our plates were cleared away and we ordered dessert, he finally seemed to have relaxed a bit. He started talking again as if we were really just a couple on a date.

“Do you really want to go to the moon?” His eyes were sparkling with amusement.

“I mean…yeah. I thought everybody did.”

He shook his head. “I don’t think so. But I really hope you can, someday.”

“I always wanted to go to space camp when I was a kid, but it was always too expensive.” I laid my fork down on my plate, leaving my tiramisu half-uneaten. It was inevitable that there would be an awkward silence every time the topic of money came up. I wasn’t sure which one of us was more to blame for it, but it was almost palpable every time. I shook my head and tried to think of an appropriate change of subject.

“Wasn’t there something ridiculous you wanted to do as a kid?”

He pondered this for a moment. “Become a doctor?”

“That’s not ridiculous.”

“Well, neither is going to the moon, if you’re cut out to become an astronaut. But for me, it was.”

“Why?” I took a drink of my water. “I mean, seriously. What stopped you?”

“I got older, I suppose. I readjusted my expectations for myself.”

The server came by with refills, and Daniel ordered a bottle of champagne. It was coming. I swallowed a rising lump in my throat.