Back to business again. Probably for the best since she turned into a ball of raging hormones every time he touched her. “Not really. We’ve been booked solid every night for the last three months.”
“Is there a night where you could get away from work?”
“I don’t like being away from here.” A smudge on the stainless steel workstation caught her eye. She grabbed a towel and polished it away. “I worry something will slip if I don’t oversee every little detail.”
He started to laugh, but ended up covering his nose with his hands. “And I thought I was a control freak.”
“La Arietta is all that I have, and I’m the one responsible for her success.”
“But you need a break every now and then.”
“Oh, no, no.” A spatter of grease remained on the side of the stove, begging her to remove it. She sprayed the bleach solution on it and scrubbed. “If I step away for even a second, I come back to a huge mess.”
Adam caught her elbow and led her away from the stove. “So there’s no one here you can trust?”
The heat from his touch flowed up her arm, unknotting the muscles in her shoulder and tempting her to bury herself in his arms. She glanced back at the stove to make sure the grease was gone. “Well, maybe I could trust Julie, my sous chef, for a few hours.”
“Which brings me back to my original question—which night would be the best for your getaway from here?”
Her spreadsheet popped into her mind with the daily listings of sales and profits. “I suppose Sunday would be the slowest night for business.”
“Good, because I’d like to take you out then.”
Her pulse stuttered. “You mean like on a date?”
He leaned his head to the side and furrowed his brows. “Well, maybe not exactly a date. Maybe more like a chance to spend some time alone with you and get to know you better.”
She grinned and leaned into him. “Like a date.”
“I don’t have time to date.”
“Neither do I.” She breathed in his scent and closed her eyes. As much as she loved La Arietta, the idea of spending time alone with Adam tempted her enough to say, “Sunday sounds good to me.”
“It sounds good to me, too.” His voice rumbled low and hungry. He ran his fingers along her cheek, catching on her jaw and tilting her face up. For a second, he looked ready to kiss her again. Then he released her and took a step back. “I’ll call you to set up the time and place.”
Her stomach flip-flopped, but she couldn’t tell if it was due to excitement or nerves. Maybe a combination of both.
He paused at the door leading to the darkened dining room. “By the way, I promise to announce my presence if I ever decide to visit you after hours, so please leave the bat in your office.”
She laughed again, this time without the nervous edge. “I promise I’ll leave it under my desk if I know it’s you.”
“Glad to hear that.” His smile fell into something more wistful and serious. “Until Sunday, then.”
Chapter Five
“I need some advice.”
Adam winced as soon as he said the words. As the oldest, he’d always been the one his brothers turned to when they needed advice. Now he was on the phone with his youngest brother, trying not to sound completely pathetic.
“And you came to me?” Gideon asked. “Must be pretty bad if you’re venturing this far down the totem pole.”
Gideon might be barely old enough to legally drink, but he was the most like Adam when it came to temperament. Plus, it helped that his youngest brother had a reputation for leaving ladies swooning in the aisles, thanks to his films.
“I have a date Sunday night—”
“You have a date?” Disbelief dripped from his brother’s voice. “Mister ‘I’m too busy rescuing Kelly Properties from the brink of disaster to give a woman the time of day?’”
“I’m not that uptight,” Adam countered, even though his inner voice was calling him a liar. “And the business has never teetered on the brink of disaster.”
“You’d never know it from the way you’re always going on about increasing expenses and decreasing revenues and a sluggish economy. Makes me happy my job is recession proof.”
“Yeah, I just saw how much that movie studio is willing to pay you for walking around with your shirt off for two hours.”
“Hey, I’m more than just eye-candy. It’s actually a serious role for once, and I’m looking forward the challenge.” Gideon quickly changed gears. “So, back to this alleged date?”
“I met this woman, and she finally agreed to go out with me—”
“Finally agreed?” Laughter filled the line. “You must’ve lost your touch with the ladies from spending all that time in the office if you had to work on convincing a woman to go out with you.”
“Will you please let me finish without interrupting me?” Adam got up from his desk and paced along the wall of windows in his office. Downtown Chicago looked so calm and peaceful from up here, so very different from the jumble of rattled nerves that tied his stomach in knots. “I admit, I’ve been out of the dating game for a while, and I need some help impressing her.”
“And the Kelly family name isn’t impressive enough?”
“Not with her. If anything, it has me in the dog house.”
Gideon let out a low whistle. “What did you do?”
“I don’t want to get into it.”
“You’re the one who called me for advice.”
Adam stopped and raked his hand through his hair. “Okay, fine, I’ll give. The timing isn’t great, but the....” The chemistry? The sparks? The way she invaded his thoughts for days after seeing her? “The attraction is definitely there.”
“Please say she’s more attractive than that peroxide and silicone filled Barbie Caleb’s been lusting over.”
Those generous lips and seductive green eyes filled his mind, and his pants grew uncomfortably tight. “Much prettier.”
“And she’s attracted to an old man like you?”
If her response to his kiss was any indication, then yes. The way she had moved against him on the kitchen floor last night had him wanting to rip their clothes off and finish what they started on the boat last weekend. “Pretty sure. Thankfully, I still have a few teeth left in my mouth, being the old man that I am.”
Another laugh from Gideon. “Then why do you need my help?”
“Because there have been some hiccups the last few times I’ve been around her, and I have a feeling that after the third strike, I’ll be out. Hence, the reason why I want to make our official first date perfect.”
“Why not give her a night out on the town? Take her to a fancy dinner and the opera or something like that.”
Adam pulled out a pen and jotted down the opera idea. At least Lia would be able to understand the lyrics, unlike some of his previous dates. “Good, but I want to do something more than the restaurant thing. Touchy subject right now.”
“Now I’m intrigued. What is it about this woman that has you wanting to go above and beyond?”
Gideon’s question stumped him for a moment. He sank down into his desk chair and rubbed his jaw. He’d dated plenty of women over the years, had some flings he later regretted, and even had his heart broken a few times in high school and college. But he’d never experienced the pull, the hunger, the raw need that shot through him whenever he was around Lia.
His mouth went dry as he croaked, “Let’s just say I really want to see where things go with her.”
“Damn, you have it bad for her. You haven’t already started picking out names for your future kids or anything, have you?”
“It’s just a date, not a marriage proposal. Besides, I’m not sure I want kids.”