She looked up, pausing in mid-bite.
“Turned out to be a good investment all round.”
“You did that for them?”
Darian shrugged, his eyes on his plate. “They were good people with a good product. I had the money, they had the drive. It was business.”
Glancing around the restaurant, she studied it with new eyes. Darian was the reason it was standing. How many other dreams had he helped come true with the power his money afforded?
“That’s amazing,” she breathed.
“It’s nothing. Eat your pasta before I regret telling you.”
Her gaze swung back to him. He might try to brush off his accomplishment, but she didn’t want to diminish the wonderful thing he’d done. He might say it was just business now, but she wondered how much of him offering the loan had been because it’d sounded like a good investment and how much had been because he cared about the people involved.
“You’ve got a good heart, Darian.”
He didn’t even glance up. “I’m sure my competitors would disagree with you.”
Yes, they might. But she knew the truth. Darian might be a shark in the boardroom, but he also had a heart second to none.
If only she could win a little piece of it.
…
Why had he told her about Marco? Why had he spoken of his past? Giving her an opening to ask about his life had just seemed so…natural.
He stabbed a tortellini with a little too much force. It’d been years since he’d spoken about that investment, and even then it had only happened with the people involved. What was it about Ali that made him yearn to make wrong, illogical choices? This whole date probably fell into that classification, for all he adored seeing her in that sinful dress she was wearing. Tonight he’d wanted…
To spoil her a little bit. To wine and dine her. Learn more about the woman who’d been by his side for years. How had it taken him this long to realize there was tension between her and her family? Four years and yet, he was starting to understand there were depths to his assistant he’d wilfully ignored.
And more disturbing, there was something about working for him she didn’t like to talk about.
Watching her eat, he wondered what it was. Did she want a bigger office or a higher salary? Surely she knew all she had to do was ask.
But what if it wasn’t a problem he could throw money at to fix?
Allison caught his eye and smiled. Warmth spread through him at the sight. Whatever was bothering her, he’d take care of it. No matter the cost, he’d make it go away so she’d never regret a single day they spent together.
A strange contentment filled him as he watched her happily attack the food on her plate. She wasn’t the most refined woman he’d ever dined with, but everything about Ali was real. She didn’t hide what she felt, whether it was a love of pasta or desire for him. There was no pretense to her.
“You’re beautiful,” he said before he could call back the words.
Her gaze swept to his, a glow of pleasure lighting her eyes even as her cheeks turned a rosy pink. He watched the color spread over her skin in fascination. His usual choice of date would take such words as her due. Allison acted like he’d hung the moon just by saying them.
“It’s the dress,” she said, ducking her head. “Gillian got it for me as a present.”
“Remind me to thank her.” He stabbed another tortellini. “Though I always think you’re gorgeous, be it in a little black dress or dishevelled and draped over my desk.”
She choked, hastily setting her wine aside.
Watching her, a smile spread across his face. This was familiar territory. Teasing, playing, this was far safer terrain than prying questions that revealed too much of him and made him curious about too much of her.
“Was that really necessary?” she hissed when she got her voice back.
“Remembering you writhing in pleasure? Oh yes,” he purred.
She shifted in her seat, dropping her eyes back to her plate. “We’ll never make it through dinner if you keep that up,” she murmured.
Lust surged through him. “Is that supposed to be a threat?” he asked. “Or an invitation?”
“If you make me waste this pasta, I might never forgive you.” Her gaze flicked to his and he inhaled sharply at the hunger he read in those dark eyes. One that had nothing to do with food. “Besides,” she said, “you should take advantage of dinner. Later you’re going to need all your strength for what I have planned.”
His cock was eager to respond to such words. Covertly, he rearranged the napkin in his lap to cover his lapse in control. “Promise?” he asked.
She grinned, twirling her fork in her noodles. “Cross my heart.”