Part 25 (1/2)
”I shouldn't have asked.”
She picked up her gla.s.s of wine and told him she'd meet him in the living room.
He dressed, and he grabbed the necklace as he left the closet. He found her near the window, looking out. ”It's one of my favorite views,” he said.
”It's a lot different from my slice of heaven,” she said, turning to face him.
He nodded. ”Will you wear this?” He held up the necklace.
”Only because I think you're right. It will look good with the dress.”
Lara turned her back to him then lifted her hair for him to fasten the clasp.
”Let's see.” He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him. ”Couldn't be any better. There's a mirror near the coat stand.”
He went with her and stood behind her. While she fingered it, he experienced an unusual feeling of possessiveness. He wasn't sure he liked the sensation. Over the years, he'd told himself that he didn't get involved because relations.h.i.+ps were owed an investment of his time and energy that he didn't have to give.
Now he wondered if he'd been honest with himself.
He'd never been in love. Maybe because he'd never given himself that opportunity. Experience had taught him that emotion could be a messy thing. It could cause damage. And initially, perhaps that had been part of the appeal of Lara's proposal. After all, a business arrangement, he understood.
But with the sight of her, his hands on her shoulders, the dress and jewelry he'd purchased adorning her body, he recognized that this-Lara-had become much more than that.
”I think I'd like it better if it had the pendant on it.”
”I'm sure you would.” Before she could begin an argument, he said, ”Are you ready to go?”
She collected her purse and headed for the parking garage. ”Are you driving us?”
”I gave April the weekend off.”
Traffic through downtown wasn't as big of a challenge as he'd a.s.sumed it would be, and they arrived at the luxury hotel a few minutes ahead of schedule. After turning over the car to a valet, Connor rounded the hood to meet Lara.
He placed his fingertips against the small of her back and guided her inside. He saw two marks on the backs of her legs. Neither was really obvious, but to him, they were significant. ”Thank you for wearing this dress.” With the patent red peek-a-boo heels, straight spine, hair flirting with her shoulders, she was breathtaking. To her credit, she didn't tug on the hem. She'd apparently grown accustomed to it, and she wore the outfit like no one else could.
Once they stepped off the elevator on the nineteenth floor, he gave the hostess his name, and they were immediately led to a table next to the window.
He pulled back her chair, and she sat then adjusted her weight.
”Everything okay?” he asked.
She gave him a wry smile. ”Ouch,” she mouthed.
He took his seat across from her.
The city lay beneath them. From their vantage point, they looked east-an endless panorama dotted by occasional buildings. Pure potential was there, untapped and waiting.
”I've heard of this restaurant,” she said, ”but I've never been here.”
”They're famous for their seafood and steaks.”
”And the views, obviously,” she added. ”I love my hometown. I'm glad I went away at times. It made me appreciate it more.”
”Part of the reason you care deeply about BHI.”
”Roots,” she agreed. ”Connection. It matters.”
”I couldn't have said it better.”
She ordered the Gulf shrimp platter, and he had a medium-rare steak. Once she'd consumed half a gla.s.s of wine, her posture became a little more relaxed and she became more animated than usual.
”I understand why you like living downtown. Everything's close, and it's got a certain energy, doesn't it?”
”Yeah. It's become part of me.”
She swirled her finger around the rim of her gla.s.s. ”What do you do to relax?”
”I exercise,” he said. ”Swim. Use the rowing machine you saw in my workout room. On rare occasions, I walk to work.”
”That's it? The pictures in your home office... There was one with you and Erin in Cozumel. But that was a few years ago.”
She was treading in territory he'd rather keep private, but if she was going to spend the next few years with him, she had that right. ”I haven't taken a vacation recently.”
”Not even a getaway, like to New Orleans? Galveston? South Padre Island?”
”No. You?”
Lara sat back and crossed her legs. ”We were talking about you.”
”Which I'm not accustomed to doing.” Business, yes. But with the exceptions of Nathan and a few close friends, Connor kept conversation general, sports, business, weather.
”Even when we're intimate, you seem to be somewhat distant. Like you're holding yourself back.”
Perceptive.
She tipped her head to one side. ”It makes me wonder if you've always been like that. Or if it's because we don't have a...” She paused.
Since he had never supplied information that he didn't need to, he waited while she searched for the right words.
Finally, she settled for, ”This relations.h.i.+p hasn't progressed like normal ones.”
He noticed, appreciated, that she hadn't called it a sham again.
”Most times you get to know someone, and all along the way you're trying to decide whether things will work, whether or not there's chemistry, whether values align, whether you want the same things out of the future. If that all works out, you may decide to live together or get married.”
”You forgot the part about whether the sub is gorgeous and well-behaved.”
She took a long drink of her water then scowled at him. ”My point is that most relations.h.i.+ps don't start with a marriage proposal.”
”Especially from the bride.” When she pursed her lips, he relented. ”In modern times in this part of the world, you're right. Through history, plenty of marriages have been arranged, either for political or financial gain. There's not much different about us.”