The Dragon Billionaire's Secret Mate(6)

"Actually, I thought it was really interesting! Please keep talking," Theresa said.

Samuel's obvious interest in his project was contagious. Theresa had a librarian's love for learning about obscure topics, and Samuel had a talent for explaining and story-telling. By the time the waiter arrived with their appetizers, all their cutlery had been repurposed as an impromptu scaffolding around the vase in the middle of the table, and Samuel was trying to show her how the supports interlaced for better stability.

The waiter cleared his throat.

"Oh. I'm so sorry," Samuel said, looking at the pile of cutlery in the middle of the table. He hastily cleared a space. "Now I've mixed up all your forks, too. Umm, I think this little one here is for the shrimp."

"I'm glad I'm not the only one who isn't sure!" Theresa said with a laugh.

"I have no excuse, I'm at fancy dinners all the time," Samuel said. "But honestly, I just start from the outside and then work my way in."

"I thought that was only in Pretty Woman!"

"Nope, that's pretty much how it works."

The shrimp were fantastic, juicy and buttery, with a hint of lemon and garlic. Theresa let out a quiet moan of pleasure at the taste, then caught herself, blushing. But Samuel only smiled.

"See? Told you the food was worth it."

He ate a shrimp himself, closing his eyes in pleasure for a brief moment. He really was almost shockingly good-looking. Theresa looked away before he could catch her staring.

There were ten shrimp on the plate, so she could probably eat four without looking greedy.

"Will you tell me a little about your job? You're a librarian, right?"

"Yes," Theresa said. "Not that much to tell about it—we're just a little small town library. Nothing like what you do. We do have a little outreach program, though—"

She told him about the program, where men and women from the local senior's home came to read to little kids from the town. It had created some surprising connections. Theresa talked about eighty year old Gwyneth, who'd ended up bonding with little Sayesha, and babysat her four times a week now so her mom could go to school.

Samuel listened intently, asking questions a few times. Theresa couldn't imagine how her little work project could possibly be that interesting to a billionaire, but Samuel genuinely seemed to want to hear about it, so she kept talking. "We even used to have a van to drive the seniors from the home and back, but it broke down a while ago. It needs a new axle and a couple other things. The mechanic says it's gonna be over a thousand dollars even with a charity discount, and we're still collecting donations."

"You could apply to the Aurum foundation for a small grant," Samuel said. "That's exactly the kind of thing we help with."

"Oh, gosh, I'm so sorry, I didn't tell you that to ask for a donation!" Theresa said, mortified. His friendly interest had lulled her into telling the story the way she would to a friend, and she hadn't thought about how it would come across.

"I know," Samuel said. He waved off her concern. "Seriously, I know. I'm a billionaire. After a while, you get very good at knowing when people are fishing for money. Most people do, sooner or later." He smiled. "I know you weren't, though."

There were two shrimp left on the plate. Samuel nudged it towards her. "Here, help yourself. I can always come here again."

"Oh, um, thank you," Theresa said. She always felt bad taking the last of anything. People always thought curvy women were greedy anyway, so she tried to hold herself back when she ate in company. Samuel seemed happy to watch her enjoying the food, though.

The main dish was amazingly good as well, buttery lobster meat melting on the tongue. Afterwards, Theresa felt pleasantly full without being stuffed. She leaned back in her chair with a contented sigh.

"The desserts here don't really live up to the rest of the menu, but we could get ice cream at the Navy Pier, if you like," Samuel said. "They'll have fireworks at nine. It's a little touristy, but it's a pretty spectacular show."

"I love fireworks!" Theresa said.

The sun had gone down while they'd been eating, and although earlier the sunny afternoon had made it feel almost like summer outside, now that it was dark, the air was cooling down rapidly. Theresa shivered, hugging her arms around herself. S-he'd had a jacket in her suitcase, in the trunk of her car, but she'd been too flustered to remember to take it out.

"Are you cold? Here," Samuel said. He shrugged out of his heavy coat and wrapped it around her shoulders. It was warm through and through from his body heat and felt heavenly on her chilled skin.

"Won't you be cold?" Theresa asked.