Their waiter arrived, carrying Connor’s champagne bucket, and he skilfully topped their glasses despite the sudden jolts. They both smiled at his dexterity.
Connor broke the silence between them. ‘So my grandmother has been at work again.’ Connor settled back into his chair and smiled. ‘Can you stand another meal with me or would you like me to ask to be moved?’
‘Of course not.’ There wasn’t a lot she could do about it now and it could have been a whole lot worse. She might have had to keep the bar fly under control. Instead, she had a handsome man who had once been her lifeline. ‘I’ll be able to handle it for one more meal. I think breakfast is in bed tomorrow morning so I’m safe.’
‘I’ll look forward to it.’ His mouth curved, smiling and sexy, a deadly combination that encapsulated her in their private joke, and the room seemed suddenly a little too warm again.
‘Even your grandmother couldn’t arrange that,’ she said dryly, and he smiled again. She almost wished he wouldn’t do that. It was a devastating smile and if her shoes hadn’t been so tight her toes might have curled.
He glanced down at the menu and then back at her. ‘So, what are you having?’
She looked down, scanning the options you could purchase before she looked at the meal that was included, and gasped. ‘I think I’d rather buy a coat at Harrods than a serving of Beluga caviar.’
He glanced at the price of the optional entrée and winced. ‘We could both buy a coat.’ He grinned at the à la carte menu for those too fussy to have what the chef de cuisine suggested. ‘Shall we have the Christmas dinner menu, then?’
She nodded vigorously. ‘Indeed. I’ll have the traditional roast turkey with chestnut stuffing and dessert of a classic plum duff with crème Anglaise and brandy butter.’
‘Good choice. I’m not a turbot fan myself.’
She laughed. He was funny. It was easy. They were conversing as if all the tense conversations of the day had been swept away and she could feel the stiffness in her neck begin to subside. The feeling of relief was heady. And he was charming. She might just have to watch that.
‘The fellow at the bar was right, you know.’ His gaze rested on her face.
‘What?’
‘You look very beautiful in that dress. In fact, you’ve looked beautiful all day.’ He wasn’t looking at the dress. He was watching her face and she felt the warmth steal into her cheeks. ‘You look even more beautiful than you did fifteen years ago.’
Now her cheeks burned and she didn’t know where to look. The obvious place was at him. Dark dinner suit, white shirt and bow-tie. Sardonically suave yet with a twinkle in his eye. ‘Thank you. You look pretty hot yourself.’
‘I was hoping you’d say that.’ His face became more serious. ‘So why haven’t you married, Kelsie?’
‘Why haven’t you?’ she countered.
He shook his head. ‘That’s a cop-out and I asked you first. I had the impression you were a brave new you. Don’t be shy. I’m sure it’s not because you haven’t found anyone who exceeded my charms.’
‘Oh, you’re charming, too, but way too old for me. I’m looking for a younger man now. Like our friend at the bar.’
She’d been trying to keep it light, not sure they were quite at ease enough to get down to real truth. That it would take someone pretty darned special to make her give up the independence that she’d fought so hard for.
She wasn’t going to make the same mistakes her mother had made and if she never did get married and have a child at least she wouldn’t walk away from them like her own mother had.
She was starting to feel more emotional than she wanted to. Here was this gorgeous man, flirting with her, and all she could remember was how she’d left him standing alone on a corner. How worried his face had been. It made her feel bad. And sad.
‘So you think I wouldn’t be able to keep up with you?’ His hand reached across the table and he squeezed her fingers, stroked the inside of her wrist, and she shivered. There was that unmistakable frisson of awareness that assured her they still had far too much chemistry happening for her peace of mind.
His hand moved back away from her and instantly she missed the connection. ‘I’m willing to bet I could.’
Her fingers tingled. It wasn’t fair that he could do that with just a touch and she’d always thought the whole vibration in auras between a man and a woman had been exaggerated. ‘You seem determined to put a personal spin on all my words but you can never go back.’