The Billionaire Next Door(20)
She took another bite of the cannoli and wiped her mouth. “You know a lot more about literature than I would have thought, too.”
“Always been a big reader.”
She smiled and he loved the curve of her cheeks in the candlelight. “So tell me, what do you do? I’ve been meaning to ask you.”
The waiter showed up at Sean’s elbow. “Another espresso? More cappuccino?”
“Not for me, thanks. Lizzie? No? Okay, the check would be great.”
The waiter left and Sean folded his napkin and put it on the table. God, how to answer her. This had been the best date he’d been on in…forever. All it had been was two people getting to know each other and he didn’t want to ruin it.
Especially because he didn’t know for a fact that she hadn’t been using his father for money.
Except, damn it, Lizzie just did not seem like that kind of woman.
Sean cursed in his head. Yeah, well, neither had the one who had taken him for such a ride way back when.
“My work?” He shrugged…and recalled the conversation he’d had with his team before he and Lizzie had gone out. Nothing but interest-rate analysis and speculation on whether the Fed was going to raise the rates in the next quarter. Dry. Very dry. “You know what, it’s not that interesting, I’m afraid.”
“Are you in construction?”
His brows shot up. “What makes you think that?”#p#分页标题#e#
As Lizzie turned bright pink again, he wanted to lean across their empty cups and kiss her. So much so, he planted his palms on the table and started to rise.
But come on. Trying to do that for the first time in public? Not smooth.
As he forced himself back into the chair, he knew he was going to end up putting a move on her at the end of the night. Heknew it. It was probably a bad idea but she was so different…so natural…so real. A woman, not a social shark in a skirt.
Or at least she appeared that way.
“Why do you think I’m in construction, Lizzie?”
“Your chest is really…ah…developed. So I thought maybe what you did had a physical component to it.” Then she frowned and looked down. “Except your hands aren’t callused. Are you a trainer at a gym?”
“I do train folks, yeah.” And this was not a lie. He worked a lot with the membership of his triathlon club, getting folks ready for events. “I’m into sports.”
“What kinds?”
“Every year I do the Ironman Triathlon. I hit a number of others, but that’s my big one. I like to compete. And I like to win.”
“You like to push yourself, then.”
“Yeah, I do. So do my brothers. We’re like that.”
“Why?”
The question made warning bells go off in his head. He and Billy and Mac were all driven to the point of obsession and the root cause, he suspected, was in the ugly past: every day, they ran without running.
Time to switch the subject.
Sean shrugged. “We’re just like that. So tell me more about your mom. What kind of art is she into?”
God, he was a liar, wasn’t he?
And she knew it. Her smart, level eyes told him that.
Lizzie smiled at him, and it was the smile of a Madonna, all-knowing, very kind. “It’s okay, Sean. I’m not going to push.”
Crap. Now he was the one flushing. Imagine that. “I’m not into talking about myself much.”
“That’s all right. You’re really good company anyway.”
Sean’s heart stopped. He couldn’t think of the last time a woman had told him he was really good company. Hell, maybe one never had. And he was so used to being seen as a “catch” that the idea someone just liked his words and his opinions was…disarming.
“You’re some good company there, too, Lizzie.” His voice was a little husky and he hoped she didn’t notice it. He cleared his throat. “I am curious about your mom, though. What’s she like?”
Lizzie took a deep breath, as if she were about to lift something heavy off the floor. “My mother calls herself a free-range art-ellectual. I’m not too clear on what exactly that is, but I can tell you that she’s into pottery now. I don’t think it’s going to stick. Over the past two decades, she’s been through almost everything. Painting in watercolor and oil. Sculpting in clay, marble and brass. Pastels. Photography. Macramé. Toothpicks. Recycle art—that’s garbage by the way. She follows her whims where they take her.”