Zoe knew a moment’s trepidation as she realized what she’d done. This dress was soft and comfortable, making her feel very feminine and powerful. But she’d made a strategic error in wearing it to dinner with Marco. The dress accentuated her breasts and tiny waist, hiding nothing from his knowing eyes while the V of the dress revealed the sides of each of her breasts. As he stood behind her, waiting for her to release the belt so he could hand the coat to the hostess, she shivered, knowing that he was in a great position to understand the perfect cut of the dress.
There was nothing to do but release the coat. It was too late to rush back to her loft and change into something more demure, she told herself.
With shaking fingers, she untied the belt, then shrugged the coat off, trying to turn away so he didn’t have a direct view of her dress.
She should have known better though. Marco had always been too smart and too knowledgeable and as soon as the coat came off, his gaze rested on her breasts. Handing the coat to the hostess without taking his gaze away from the green dress, he nodded. “I bow to your superior knowledge of fashion.”
Thankfully, the hostess announced that their table was ready and led them out of the smaller area of the coat check lobby. Zoe moved quickly to follow the hostess, putting as much distance between Marco and herself as possible.
Their table was in the back of the restaurant where they would have privacy for their discussion. Marco moved to hold out her chair and Zoe nervously took the seat. As he sat down across from her, he ordered a bottle of wine, a name she’d never heard of but was sure probably cost more than one of her dresses.
When they were alone again, Zoe nervously studied the menu, praying that something would happen to ease the tension. Couldn’t some kitchen calamity occur that would distract the whole restaurant? Maybe a waiter could drop a meal on someone’s head?
No such luck, she sighed and glanced up, not sure what was on the menu even though she’d been looking at it for the past five minutes.
As soon as she looked up, she saw that Marco had been waiting for just that to happen. He’d simply been sitting across from her, waiting patiently, a slight smile on his lips as he watched her across the linen covered table. “You look beautiful,” was all he said initially.
For some reason, his gaze and his husky words made her stomach flip flop, and a blush crept up her neck and cheeks. She hoped that the dark, candle lit restaurant would cover that reaction, but his soft chuckle told her otherwise. “I’m not trying to make you feel uncomfortable. It was a sincere compliment. You’re more beautiful now than you were when I saw you the last time.”
“Thank you,” she whispered. “I read about you on the internet this morning after you left. You’ve done well for yourself.”
“So have you.”
She grimaced. “All evidence to the contrary.”
“Well, your designs are across the country now, aren’t they? You have some pretty important clients and they all speak well of you.”
She didn’t like the sound of that. “You’ve been talking to my clients?” she asked, angry for the invasion. “Why?”
“Of course I spoke to your clients. And your vendors and many others. If I’m going to invest in your company, I wanted to know what I was getting into.”
She didn’t like his attitude and thought to take him down a notch. “Who says I’m going to allow you to invest in my company?”
He leaned forward and smiled. “Then that means tonight is all about being with me and not your company. I’m flattered.”
“Absolutely not!”
“Then what’s tonight about? If it’s not about you and me and this attraction that’s obviously flaring between us, and it’s not about your company that’s about to be destroyed, then I’m very confused.”
She bristled at his words. “There’s no attraction between us. At least not from my side. That died when I was a kid.”
He laughed once again but shook his head. “We’ll see about that later. Let’s discuss your company first.”
She was grateful when the wine steward arrived and made a show of pouring the wine for Marco’s approval, which he gave of course. At Zoe’s first sip, she knew that this was an extraordinary glass of wine. Unfortunately, she was too nervous to enjoy it.
“So, what did the bank say when you spoke to them earlier today?” he asked when the steward had left.
Zoe set her glass down on the table carefully, afraid her suddenly shaking fingers would knock it over inadvertently. “Um…well…they said, that…” she swallowed painfully through the embarrassment.
“Let me guess. Not only did they deny your loan application, but they told you that you owed them several thousands more in fees. Am I correct?”
Zoe nodded, looking down at the table.
“You’re not going to pay those fees. The bank is only trying to scare you and gouge you for whatever fees they can make up now that they think your ship is sinking. Those fees are bogus and once you close your accounts, they won’t have any right to charge you for them. I think most of them might even be illegal. Close your accounts with them tomorrow morning and go to this bank. Open up three accounts. One for payroll, one for your inventory and another for reserve.”
He handed her the card with the name of the bank he’d mentioned on the back. “Speak to a man named George Montgomery. He’ll steer you in the right direction.”
She fiddled with the card, unsure of how to explain the dire situation she was in. “That would be wonderful, and I sincerely appreciate the tip, but unfortunately….” She tried to say the words but they wouldn’t come.
“You don’t have any money to deposit?” he suggested gently.
She nodded again, ashamed.
“That’s where I come in. I’m planning to invest this amount,” he said and took the card once again and wrote down an amount that made Zoe’s eyes widen in alarm. “Once you have the account numbers, come to my office and give them to me. I’ll have this amount transferred into your accounts so you can meet your obligations. Make sure to tell George which bank you’re transferring your accounts from, and a list of all your creditors. He’ll contact those vendors and give them the new information.”
The waiter arrived to take their order and Zoe was grateful for the reprieve. Her mind was spinning with the amount Marco wanted to invest. It was more than twice what she suspected she owed and she had to honest with him about that. She didn’t need that much cash, and she had to warn him.