"I'm sure you'll do fine, from what I can see you are an extremely hard worker and you don't strike me as the type of woman who would ‘drop the ball', as you say."
"It's really important to me that I do well in this position because it is such an incredible opportunity and I am very appreciative."
He looked surprised by my words and there was something else there in his eyes but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Was he surprised by how grateful I was about being given this incredible opportunity? Maybe that was it, and I guess in his world, people at his level didn't really show their emotions so freely. But I did, that's just who I was, I was grateful and I was going to work really hard to make a name for myself.
"We are very happy to have you aboard." He glanced at his watch and look at me with a slight smile. "It's past 7:30 and I can almost guarantee that you have not eaten dinner yet, am I correct?"
"No, I haven't, but I was just getting ready to go down to the cafeteria to grab a quick sandwich. I still have a couple of hours of work left to do."
"I think that any work that you have can wait until tomorrow. You won't be any good to anyone if you don't eat a proper meal. Would you like to have dinner with me?"
I sat there completely stunned. Did he just ask me to have dinner with him? Of course I wanted to! But, he was my boss, my brand new boss and he had been very clear about his intentions. I didn't want to send the wrong message, so even though I really wanted to have dinner with him I decided it would be best if I didn't.
"I appreciate the invitation but I don't think it would be appropriate." I looked down at my hands which were fumbling with the corner of one of the folders on my desk, unable to look at him.
He let out a soft chuckle. "Appropriate? Elena, you do eat food don't you?"
"Yes, of course."
"I am simply asking you to join me for a meal. I know that you have to be hungry and I am starved, so please join me. I'll expense it and you can fill me in on the new marketing ideas you have been working on."
Well, as long as he put in terms of work I figured there couldn't be any harm in eating with him.
"Okay, I'll grab my notepad."
A tiny smirk touched the corner of his mouth. "Fine, bring your notepad."
We went to a small Italian restaurant clear across town which I thought was a little bit strange.
"This is kind of far Sebastian, is this your favorite restaurant or something?"
"It's one of them, and it's best if we are discreet since you just started in my office. We don't want any rumors flying around, do we?"
Oh, we were in the boonies because he couldn't be seen with me. I didn't like the way that made me feel but I definitely wasn't going to raise a big stink about it and get myself fired. I was hungry and the company was paying so I decided to just let that comment go for the time being.
We made small talk for a couple of minutes and then as we waited for our food to arrive Sebastian wanted to know more about me.
"So, let's get work stuff out of the way. Have you come up with any new ideas for the marketing campaign?"
"Yes, I … " He cut me off as he waved his hand in the air.
"That's all I wanted to know. Now that we have talked about work I can go ahead and expense this meal. So, on to something much more interesting, I know a few things about you from the background check but I want to know more."
His eyes held mine, and the way he said that made my belly flip.
"What would you like to know?"
"Everything. What is your favorite color? What makes you happy? What makes you sad? Where would you like to travel in the world? Where have you traveled in the world? Where do you see yourself in five years? Do you want to get married? Do you want to have a family? Everything, Elena, I want to know everything about you."
My cheeks were burning so I knew they bright red and I hated that I blushed so easily and everyone could see it. I really wanted to pinch myself because it was so hard for me to believe that all of this was actually happening to me. Sitting in this secluded restaurant, across from this gorgeous billionaire was just something that I never in a million years would have imagined could happen to me. I couldn't believe that someone like him wanted to know everything about someone like me. I wasn't putting myself down or anything but I knew that he could have his pick of any woman, and he was choosing to spend time with me and get to know me. It all just seemed too good to be true.
"I can see that my questions may have caught you off guard so let's just start with the first one, what is your favorite color?"
I was totally embarrassed and I looked down at my hands and then slowly looked up at him. "Sebastian, we probably should just stick to talking about work."
He held my gaze as his eyes smoldered. "No, I want to talk about you, we are going to talk about you."
"Do you always get what you want?" I wanted to take the words back the second they rolled off of my tongue. I had to learn how to control my thoughts better!
He seemed amused by my question and I definitely saw a sparkle in his eye as a tiny smirk turned up the corner of his mouth. "I always try." He sat there, holding my gaze, looking at me as if he wanted to devour me and I felt a dull ache in my core as my body responded to him.
I hesitated for just a couple of seconds and then decided to play along. "My favorite color is rose pink. People being kind to one another makes me happy, people being mean to one another makes me sad, I have always wanted to go to Paris, Canada is the most exciting place I've been to so far, and in five years I want to own my own boutique hotel." I looked at him, and caught and held his gaze as I answered the last two questions. "Yes, I want to get married and yes I want a family."
I could see his brain registering what I was saying as I answered his questions, almost as if he was saving the information for a later time and then a grin spread across his face making him look more gorgeous than ever.
"Thank you for answering my questions. From what I know of you so far, I have no doubt that you will get everything that you want."
"And you?"
He looked at me and then down at my breasts and back up to my eyes. "Oh, I know that I will get everything that I want."
"That is not what I meant, what are your answers to those same questions?"
"You want to know my favorite color?" He seemed completely amused.
I looked at him and smiled, my eyes sparkling as I cocked my head to the side. "Yes, I do."
"Okay, I'll play. My favorite color is blue."
"That's a big shocker, your last name is Blu, so of course that is your favorite color."
"Oh, is that sarcasm I detect in your voice?" He was now thoroughly amused.
"Me? Never." I smiled at him and I couldn't believe that I was flirting with him so openly but I couldn't help myself. He was hot and it was fun. "Next answer please."
He held my gaze and had a serious look on his face. "Being with you makes me happy, being away from you makes me sad."
"You hardly know me."
"It doesn't matter, I like being around you."
I felt really uncomfortable and didn't know what to say so I tried to joke with him a bit. "I'm sure you say that to all of the women you meet."
His face was even more serious now. "No, I don't Elena."
I hesitated before I said anything because I didn't know if I should tell him that I liked being around him too, but I decided against it because I didn't want him to know that I was already hooked. I couldn't help it. I had never felt so attracted to someone so quickly. He had to think that he was still chasing me, right?
"I'm not sure I believe that. Anyway, next answer please." I tried to keep it light and he played along and dropped the serious talk, which was a relief.
"Yes ma'am! Let's see, I have not been to Dubai yet and I have been just about everywhere else. Oh, and I do want to get married one day, I have no desire to be an eternal bachelor."
Everything he was saying to me made me like him even more even though I knew it was probably a bad idea. I could see myself falling hard for him and getting my heart broken into a million pieces but he was like a drug. Here I was with him for just a few minutes and I wanted more time with him.
"And kids, are those in your future?"
A pained expression fell over his face and I could see that I had touched a nerve, but I didn't understand why. Just then the waiter brought our food and interrupted the conversation. He took what seemed like forever to put all of our food on the table and when he finally walked away, Sebastian's phone rang.