free of the low sizzle in his stomach and stepped out. Seeing the unlatched main doors, a different type of irritation surged. He pressed her buzzer none too gently.
‘I’ll be right down.’
Since he wasn’t sure whether the lift functioned with any efficiency tonight, he kept his attention between it and the stairs, flatly refusing to acknowledge the rising thrum in his blood.
Heels on the stairs alerted him to her mode of descent. She arrived at the top of the last flight of stairs and his heart rate increased.
She wasn’t smiling.
In fact she appeared distinctly nervous.
Yet, she was captivatingly breathtaking.
Her chocolate-brown hair was swept to one side of her face and pinned at the back in a loose style that left several tresses falling free to caress her neck. Her knee-length dress, made of dark green material, skimmed her hips but hugged her breasts and left her shoulders bare. A simple necklace drew attention to her slim neck. In one hand she held a wrap and purse, her other hand clinging to the rail as she came down. He wasn’t aware he’d moved until she paused on the stairs. Her gaze met his as she slid her hand into the one he held out.
‘Thank you,’ she murmured.
‘De nada. Breaking your neck before the first course is served would be extremely bad form.’
A hint of a smile appeared. ‘Wow. Two jokes in one day. Do we need to notify record keepers in some obscure office?’
He found his mouth curving. ‘Best not. We wouldn’t want to incite any unnatural disasters.’
A full-blown smile appeared. Something vibrated in the region of his chest. Keeping her hand in his, he led her to his car, choosing not to mention the state of her lobby security. Or lack thereof.
And if a part of him suddenly wished their dinner involved two less people, he brushed it away under the guise of it being a temporary aberration.
* * *
They arrived at Millennia, one of Chicago’s most lauded restaurants, ahead of Jeff and Mindy Stoneley, for which Elise was just a tiny bit grateful. It gave her a chance to gather herself. To deliver a much-needed pep talk that involved not getting carried away with what was happening tonight.
This wasn’t a date.
It was business.
She was doing work for which she was being paid.
PR work held many facets. Fact. When she was a newly employed member of Jameson, her parents had inundated her at all hours with absurd requests before she’d finally put her foot down.
‘You’re frowning. Is the venue not to your liking?’
‘What? Oh, no. It’s not that. This is great!’ She noted the gushiness in her voice and dialled it down. ‘I’m sure your clients will appreciate it.’
Alejandro’s narrow-eyed speculation didn’t abate. ‘But something disturbed you just then.’
She tried to wave it away. ‘I was just remembering some of the things I had to do when I started working at Jameson.’
‘Are you referring to the incident you didn’t wish to speak of before?’ he asked, still narrow-eyed.
Her heart missed a beat, the thought that she’d nearly spilled her guts to Alejandro earlier today stabbing discomfort through her. Determinedly, she pushed it away. ‘No. I meant something else,’ she murmured, fervently hoping he’d let the matter drop.
‘Something that doesn’t compare favourably to this?’
‘Are you kidding? Dining in a Michelin-starred restaurant beats getting up at two a.m. to go rescue a client’s dog from the airport because our paparazzi-fleeing client had left it behind.’
He frowned. ‘You’re serious.’
‘As frostbite.’
‘Isn’t that more of a minder’s job?’
She shrugged. ‘It is. I found out later.’
‘How?’ he asked.
Her mood dimmed further at the recollection. ‘My parents were trying to teach me a lesson.’
‘A lesson? Or punishment?’ He cut through the excuse.
‘Does it matter?’
‘Sí. It does. And I’m guessing this wasn’t a one-off event?’
She shook her head.
‘Why did they do that?’
‘They found out that I had graduated with two degrees, not one.’
‘Surely that’s a cause for celebration?’
Her heart lurched. ‘You’d think so, wouldn’t you?’ she muttered. Realising they’d arrived at another subject she didn’t relish probing too deeply, she cleared her throat, intending to steer him away from the testy issue of her parents, but Alejandro beat her to the punch.
‘You only list one degree on your résumé.’
‘Because it’s the only one that’s relevant to my present job.’
‘Or it’s the one that invites the least scrutiny?’
Her gaze rose from where she’d feigned interest in the place setting and met shrewd green eyes. ‘You’re digging, Alejandro. I may be tempted to dig back.’
‘Will you be divulging anything that isn’t already public knowledge?’
‘No...but that’s not what I meant.’
One shoulder lifted. ‘You can tell me or I can unearth the truth myself.’
‘Okay, it was an art degree.’ Elise wasn’t sure why admitting that stirred a deeply buried hurt. Probably because a once-precious dream had been desiccated while she’d been scrambling to be done with her current reality.
‘Impressive. And do you use it—’
‘There you are. Apologies for being late, bello! Please say you’ll forgive me? The car service was atrocious. I’m never using that firm again. Oh...I didn’t realise this would be a foursome.’
Alejandro rose, albeit with minimal enthusiasm, as Mindy Stoneley paused dramatically at the table, her wide grey eyes assessing Elise.
Behind her, her husband, a giant of a man with thinning hair and a face that leant towards excess, cracked out a forced laugh.
‘Careful, Mindy. You might give the impression we live a risqué lifestyle.’
Mindy ignored him and held out both hands to Alejandro. When he bent towards her, she pressed her lips to his.
The sharp dart of disquiet that went through Elise held her in place for several paralysing heartbeats, only easing when Alejandro stepped back from Mindy’s embrace.
‘Jeff, Mindy, allow me to introduce you to Elise Jameson.’
Mindy sniffed, the skintight sequinned dress that stopped a good foot above her knees rising even further as she leaned over and offered her hand to Elise. ‘And what exactly is your connection to Alejandro?’
Elise cringed at the forced eroticism of Alejandro’s name. ‘I’m afraid that’s confidential. But I hope you don’t mind me joining you tonight. I’ve been dying to try the food here and Alejandro kindly offered to bring me along.’
‘The offer wasn’t generated by kindness, querida,’ Alejandro drawled, his gaze lingering suggestively on her as he sat back down.
Her pulse leapt wildly, despite the clear evidence that his words were only for show.
Mindy’s gaze swung to Alejandro as she and Jeff took their seats across