Stolen:The Billionaire Deception(9)

I smiled, genuinely this time. He looked so self-conscious and genuinely remorseful.



"It's okay," I said. "It is quite the anomaly."



He laughed, "That's not the word I would use," he said. "Mine would be   much more flattering. But thank you for not slapping me for touching you   uninvited. It won't happen again. Speaking of uninvited however, you   were coming to see me for something?"



It was my turn to laugh, "Did you just say I was "uninvited" to your office?"



With a slow grin he said, "It did sound that way, didn't it? I'm not   sure what's wrong with me tonight. That was not my intention. You're   always welcome in my office Erin, consider it an open invitation." He   was flirting again; I could tell by the way his voice changed. It got   deeper, sexier somehow. It made me feel all tingly inside and I tried to   chastise myself about how ridiculous I was and how unproductive mutual   flirting with the boss would be to my cause. I was still talking in my   head when I heard him say, "I was going to step out for a bite to eat.   Why don't you join me?"



Before my inner voice shut up, I heard my outer one say, "Sure, that   sounds great." On my way back to my own office to get my bag I tried to   lie to myself again. I was only distracting him from having the time to   really consider why I would be reaching for his office door handle. I   knew that I was lying. Something about being close to Seth made me want   to forget that I hated him and his father and everything they stood  for.  Grant was right. I was playing a dangerous game …



"There's a little Italian place up the street that I really enjoy. It's a   nice evening, would you mind a walk?" he asked. Again, I should have   said no. The cool evening breeze coupled with the big, full, silver moon   and the stars made it all even more dangerous.



"That sounds great," my stupid self-replied yet again. It was almost   like I was on auto-pilot around this guy. I kept telling myself that it   was all about the cause.



The restaurant was only a few blocks and I could hear the soft Italian   music piping out of the speakers as we approached it. Seth opened the   door and held it for me as I stepped in and was taken away to a village   in Tuscany. The interior of the restaurant gave you no indication   whatsoever that you were in the center of Manhattan's busiest business   district. The lights were low and candles flickered out of red glass   vases at every red and white checkered table. There seemed to be plants   and vines everywhere, all plush and green and adding an element of   intimacy to each table.



The hostess greeted Seth right away and took us straight back to "his"   table. It was in a far corner of the restaurant and the high-backed   booth and potted plants cut us completely out of the vision of all of   the other patrons. We took our seats across from each other and I sat   quietly as Seth ordered our wine. When he finished the waiter left and   he turned his eyes on me. I tried not to notice how sexy they looked in   the candlelight.         

     



 



I didn't even realize I was staring and time was passing …  too much time   for me to be staring mutely at him. His lips quirked up and he gave me   one of the heated glances that I'd been getting from him at work. Here   somehow it seemed hotter. I swear my clothes were melting right off. I   had to say something but I was at a loss.



"So are you from New York?" he asked. Thank God!



"Yes, born and bred," I told him.



"You don't sound like a New Yorker when you talk," he said.



"You mean like someone who grew up in Brooklyn, or the Bronx …  or   Queens?" His comment had insulted me. It felt like he was saying that he   expected me to be talking like a sewer rat because I had to have   undoubtedly grown up on the wrong side of the tracks.



My angst seemed to amuse him. "I wasn't casting stones," he said. "I   don't have a "New York" sound to my voice either, but that's because I   spent a big part of my life at boarding school in Switzerland. I was   going to ask if maybe you had done the same."



My mind went back to the posh private school I had attended in the   Hamptons until my seventh grade year. At that time I was forced, because   of his father, to attend an inner-city public school. I adjusted   quickly. I was smart enough not to let my former upbringing get in the   way of making new friends and learning new customs.



"No," I said finally. "No boarding schools for me. Private school."



"Ah," he said, as if that explained everything.



The waiter returned then with a tray and presented a bottle of wine to   Seth. Seth nodded and my glass was filled with a cool amber liquid. Seth   nodded again and the waiter filled his. He left the bottle chilling   table-side and disappeared again.



I picked up my wine and before it made it to my lips he held his up and said, "To new acquaintances."



I went through the motions and toasted with him, still feeling like   somehow his question had been designed to put me in a lower place than   him. After he finished his drink of wine he looked at me with a raised   eyebrow and said, "What are you thinking, Erin?"



"Nothing," I said. "I was just enjoying my wine."



He laughed and said, "I was honestly not trying to insult you."



"It's fine," I said. "I think it's just past my bedtime and I'm getting cranky."



He laughed again and said, "So by now you would be home in your pajamas …  doing what?"



"Probably commiserating with my roommate about our days."



"Is she in business as well?"



"He …  Grant is an MBA like me. He works as an accountant at a law firm here in the city."



He raised an eyebrow again and said, "Your roommate is a male. So, are you two … ?"



"Involved? No. Grant and I are just friends."



"Is he gay?"



"No, why would you ask that?"



"Well I was picturing you in your pajamas … "



"Excuse me?"



"You did bring it up."



I had to admit that was true. "Okay, so I brought it up. What does that have to do with Grant being gay?"



"I was just wondering how any red-blooded man who was privileged enough   to sit with you while you were in your pajamas being able to maintain a   "friend's only" relationship."



I felt my face go hot when I said, "Well then, I doubt you're picturing the same pajamas that I wear when I go home."



He chuckled softly and said, "You're probably right about that." The way   he said it made me blush again. I was saved once again by the waiter   who came back then to take our orders. I hadn't even glanced at the   menu. I opened the menu quickly and ordered the Chicken Alfredo, the   first thing my eyes landed on. Seth looked amused …  again. It was obvious   that he'd flustered me …  again.



"I'll have the Manicotti," he said, handing his menu to the waiter. I   handed him mine and he once again disappeared. As I watched him go, I   was beginning to think the waiter was the lucky one.



When I looked back at him, he was still smiling at me. I was beginning   to think he did that just to unnerve me. "So, you grew up in New York   when you weren't away at boarding school. Two parent home, rich,   privileged upbringing …  you're comfortable in those clothes."



He looked down at his suit and said, "I suppose I am. Do you not like my clothes?"



"No …  I mean yes, I like them …  the question wasn't really about your   clothes, it was more about your upbringing … " Flustered again I said,   "Your clothes are fine."         

     



 



He made a face and looked down again. "Only fine?" This man was too much.



"You know what I mean," I said.



"No, I don't really. If you had to describe me, what one word comes to mind?"



Gorgeous, sexy, hot …  "Arrogant," I said.



Seth threw his head back and laughed. "There's that feisty red-head. I   could see her simmering on the surface since the day we met. I've been   dying for you to bring her out."



With my own raised eyebrow I said, "Really? Why is that?"



"I like your spirit. I could honestly feel it the first time we met. You   were interviewing for a job you seemed to really want and really be   qualified for. Yet you seemed almost …  perturbed with me."