He was already walking towards the door and Darcy had to run to catch up with him, clasping the papers to her chest to hold onto them. She followed him out, still confused about how it happened that she was now going to dinner with him.
But they were riding down the elevator to her office so she could get her coat and purse and, a few minutes later, they were in his car, driving out of the parking garage heading to who knows where. Darcy stared out the window and tried to come up with something to break the silence.
“How long have you been doing this kind of work?” she asked.
Michael smiled in the darkness of the car. “That’s work related. Got another question?” He easily shifted gears on the powerful car, turning through the streets of Washington, D.C. and navigating around the rush hour traffic.
Darcy fumed but she wasn’t’ going to let him prove his point. “Why don’t you have plans for tonight?”
“I do. I’m having dinner with you,” he said and braked at a light, turning his head to face her as he waited for her next question.
“Yes, but that was by chance,” she said as he turned the corner and drove through the streets of Washington, D.C. “Apparently you didn’t have plans before fifteen minutes ago.”
“If you say so,” he said, concentrating on traffic as he merged into the late rush hour mess trying to get out of the city. A moment later, he pulled up to a posh restaurant and handed the keys to the waiting valet. He came around to her side of the car and guided her into the restaurant with a hand in the small of her back.
“Good evening, Mr. Attracelli. This way,” the maitre’d said as soon as they walked through the doors.
They were led to a table in the far corner of the restaurant looking out onto a colorful courtyard. The waiter arrived and Michael ordered a bottle of red wine and then they were alone. Michael laid down his menu on the table, folded his hands and looked at her.
Darcy floundered, trying to understand what he wanted from her. “You’re waiting for me to come up with some topic of conversation that doesn’t have to do with work, aren’t you?” she asked, suddenly nervous.
Michael just nodded, a challenging smile on his face.
She placed her menu on the table and folded her hands on top of it, wondering what she could possibly talk about with this dynamic man. Darcy chewed her lower lip and concentrated. What did normal people talk about at dinner? She couldn’t remember the last time she’d gone out with people outside of work. “Well, I don’t know what to talk about because I don’t really know you very well. What types of hobbies do you have?”
She could see the admiration in his eyes. “I love to ski and my family all goes out to Colorado at least once a year over the holidays. I also love different types of sports, golf and tennis especially.”
“I love tennis,” she exclaimed, latching onto the one common interest. She smiled as if she’d won a prize.
“When was the last time you played?” he asked and he was disappointed when her smile immediately disappeared.
The worry was back. “I can’t remember.”
“Do you ski?”
Darcy shook her head. “I always wanted to but never got around to it.”
“Why not?”
She shrugged her shoulders. “Can’t discuss it,” she laughed.
“Ah. Okay, move on to the next question,” he said, waiving the wine steward on to serve instead of tasting the wine first.
Darcy took a sip of wine and savored the wonderful taste. She usually drank beer simply because it was cheaper and she didn’t know how to choose wines. But she preferred a good red wine that was crisp and full bodied. “Oh, this is nice,” she said, closing her eyes as the liquid melted down her throat.
Michael’s throat clenched and his stomach muscles tightened as he watched the pleasure on her face. He wanted to be the one to put that pleasure there, not some damn wine. He mentally shook himself and re-focused on her face. He knew he had to play this right, otherwise, she’d run the other way as fast as she could. He wanted to reach across and kiss her luscious lips, taste the wine….He was holding onto his control by sheer willpower.
And then she smiled.
She wasn’t playing fair, he thought. She was breaking all the rules by flashing those dimples. Then she took another sip of wine and had to look like he’d just given her nectar from heaven. His mind went blank again.
She was so gorgeous, he just wanted to sit there and watch all her facial features. She’d never be able to play poker, he thought. Everything she was feeling was right there on her face. He remembered playing poker with his two brothers Gus and Thomas and Thomas’ wife, Victoria, last weekend. Victoria was the only woman he knew who could play a good round of poker. Michael and his brothers occasionally got together to play poker but none of his older brothers’ wives had ever been interested until Victoria entered their game. Thomas had warned everyone not to take Victoria’s prim, sweet demeanor seriously when they played but no one had listened. Victoria had cleaned them all out, that night. He laughed at the idea of Darcy playing poker. Was she like Victoria? Or would her emotions be all over her face, like they were now?
His mind thought back to the moment when he watched her walk into his office tonight. Boy, she’d been mad. And she was stunning when she was mad, all fire and energy radiating from her tiny figure. He’d had to get off the phone immediately, not even remembering who he was talking to when he’d noticed her standing in the middle of his office, brimming with pent up frustration.
Darcy wracked her brain for a different topic. She latched on to the only personal item she knew about him. “I know you have several siblings. How many?”
Michael grimaced. “Too many sometimes,” he laughed. “I have three older brothers, one younger and a younger sister.”
“Wow! What was it like growing up in a household like that?”
“Fun, most of the time.”
“Why not all the time?”
“I’m guessing you’re an only child?” at her nod, he continued. “Well, with four brothers and a little sister, things can get a little crazy.” He told her stories about competing for toys when he was younger and girls when he was older. She laughed when he described the lengths he had to go through to keep his toys safe from his brothers who constantly tried to steal them from him.