Touched by Lilly Wilde

shrugging it off.
    He was his most charismatic in situations like this and the part of me that enjoyed the game we once played gave in. “Let’s forget it.”
    “Consider it forgotten. So what about that drink? Shall I pour you a glass?” he asked.
    “Sure why not?”
    “Good,” he said, taking in my appearance. He smirked as he turned away.
    Yeah, soak it all in asshole. This is all for you.
    I grasped the strap of my carrier bag and pulled it over my head and reached for the wine he extended and took a sip. “I know you said you wanted to do this over dinner but I’m really tired so if we could just finish this up so that I can get home, that would be great,” I said. That was part of the plan; to tell him I was tired so we could move things along without any weirdness.
    “Well, I’m really starved and I need to eat.”
    Well, shit. That wasn’t part of the plan. I didn’t want to react to the double meaning of his words; experience had shown it was best to just ignore it. “Okay, well food it is. Let’s do it,” I said, turning toward the kitchen.
    “Actually everything is set up in the dining room. Come,” he said, motioning for me to follow him. It would appear he had some strategies of his own. I followed him to the dining room, my bag clutched to my chest as I reconstructed my plan.
    “May I?” he asked, taking my bag and extending a seat to me. I sipped the wine as he moved toward the head of the table, taking his seat.
    “This is a really nice wine,” I said.
    “I thought you would like it,” he replied as he studied my face. What was he looking at?
    “I don’t want to keep you any longer than necessary so let’s see what you have for me,” he said.
    You’ve already seen what I have for you. Stop it Aria. Focus. 
    “Well, you reviewed most of the material today,” I began.
    As we started to eat, I completed the proposal; reiterating some of the critical components. “The other information you’ll need is outlined here,” I said, passing him the portfolio from my bag. He skimmed over it as he ate. I watched him. I couldn’t help it. He was such a magnificent specimen.
    He looked up to find me studying him and smiled. “Yes?”
    “Nothing. I’m a wee bit anxious to hear the final response,” I lied.
    “In that case, you have nothing to worry about. As I said earlier this is brilliant. I say we get moving on this first thing.”
    “That’s exactly what I wanted to hear,” I replied, smiling. I was so excited that I was damned close to bouncing up and down in my seat.
    He smiled at me and our eyes momentarily connected, both of our smiles slowly fading. I looked down at my plate, breaking our eye contact.
    “Anything you think we missed?” I asked.
    He only had a few modest suggestions and we fell into silence.  It was intimate, yet it felt like two strangers with so many questions that neither would ask … such as why he and I couldn’t seem to shake our intense attraction for each other or what we should do about it or why he freaked out on Kellan at the charity event.
    “Thank you for dinner. I need to head home. Now that you’ve given the green light, I have tons to do tomorrow.”
    “It was my pleasure and again great work. I expect great things Miss Cason.”
    “And great things you shall have Mr. Raine.”
    I was inwardly breathing a sigh of relief. He didn’t do anything or say anything inappropriate over dinner and he was allowing me to leave without any other advances.
    “I’ll walk you out,” he said, pushing away from the table. “After you,” he offered.
    I was almost out of here. I grabbed my bag and headed toward the door. He walked quietly behind me. This was so crazy. I felt on edge. I reached the door and turned to face him. He was staring down at me like a predator eyeing its prey and my heart rate instantly accelerated.
    “Are you okay?” he asked, reaching out to me. “You look adorable by the way.”
    So he liked me even when I tried to