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The way he looked at her set her ablaze, his deep voice echoing through every nerve, his touch…almost too much to bear.
How could he be so calm?
Yes, the man had reacted to her dress. Thank God. It had taken her long enough to pick it out. Tonight had to be just right to gather the info she required to highlight Raquel’s mistake.
Her heart had leapt up her throat at Case’s suggestion that she invite him in. She had been sorely tempted, her mind throwing up some crazy idea of getting him out of her system.
She accepted that exploring what Case Tantalising Darrington had to offer wouldn’t just be educational, recreational and inspirational; it would prove that he was an office playboy and deserved the consequences of stealing her promotion with his good looks and connections.
Tahlia touched her lips, closing her eyes and imagining what sort of havoc the rest of Case would have on her body when his kiss had wrecked havoc on her senses.
It was probably a good thing he hadn’t accepted her invitation… A public place was far safer.
Case opened the door, holding out his hand for her to alight, his strong clean-shaven jaw close enough to touch, run her fingers down, trail her lips over.
Tahlia took a sharp breath, more than keen to exit from the enclosed space that was filled with the scent of new leather, hot male and his sexy cologne.
She’d think more clearly in fresh air.
His fingers folded around her hand, sealing her palm against his in a connection that felt so good—too good.
Her hand burned where it met his, making her nerves buzz, the cascade of electricity flowing upwards and then sinking deep into her belly. ‘Thank you.’
Case drew her close to him, closing her door, looking down into her face with an intensity that sang to her body.
‘We’re here,’ he said suddenly, stepping back.
‘Yes.’ Tahlia swung to face Bohemia, one of Melbourne’s top restaurants. It boasted the best chefs, the best service and the heftiest prices. She wouldn’t have expected anything less of the guy. ‘Showing off, are we?’
‘What do you mean?’ he asked, his voice tight.
‘I’m sorry. I don’t mean to suggest that snob stuff by you bringing me here,’ she rushed on. ‘Just that your tastes befit a Marketing Executive, that’s all.’ Even if he didn’t know the job and would take far too much time to learn the ropes to help the company now, when it needed help most.
‘Oh. Yes. The wage does offer its advantages,’ he said casually, catching her hand and drawing her to the entrance.
‘I see.’ She tried to stir up her resentment again, but failed. She couldn’t feel straight with her hand in his— her body was all sensations, all reactions, all tingling for more of Case’s attention.
He pushed open the door, letting her hand slip from his other hand as he held it open for her to pass, his gaze going to the slit in her dress. The light in his eyes and the flicker of a muscle in his jaw sent pulses of excitement racing through her.
Tahlia rubbed her palm against her thigh to expel the charge still tingling there. What she could do about the tingling in the rest of her body, she had no idea.
Case weaved through the line of people in the foyer, beckoning her to follow. ‘Reservation for Darrington,’ Case said smoothly to the maître d’.
The balding man in a tux smoothed his thin moustache and nodded. ‘Your usual table, Mr Darrington?’ he asked, sweeping up two menus and swinging around.
‘Yes.’ Case glanced at her sheepishly. ‘That’ll be fine. Thank you, Louis.’ Case placed his hand in the small of her back, guiding her after Louis.
‘So you bring all your women here, do you?’ she asked, biting her cheek, fighting an unusual ache around her ribs. ‘Not that I mind,’ she blurted. ‘Or care. I’m sure a man like you must get around and wouldn’t be short of offers and it’s not like this isn’t a nice place to bring dates to show them not only how much you’re making but your taste in wine and food, and your style—’
‘That’s not my intention,’ Case offered.
Louis stopped at a small round table which was nestled in the corner of the room. A deep red leather bench-seat curled around the table, against the coffee-coloured wall and a print of a modern artwork with bold strokes and even bolder colours.
A candle flickered under a textured glass shade, the crystal wineglasses gleaming in the light, the wine bottle all too obviously chilling in the ice bucket beside the table, at the ready.
It was one thing to suppose the man was a career Romeo, another thing entirely to see it, feel it, know it. Tahlia glanced back across the busy room towards the door.
Was she just another distraction from doing his job properly?
‘You don’t like?’ he asked, moving closer to her. ‘We can go somewhere else if you’re not comfortable, if you don’t want to stay…’
She lifted her chin, stifling her concerns. This was business, nothing personal. ‘Why mess with something that obviously works for you?’
She slipped on to the bench, sliding a little on to the seat in front of the setting on the table, twining her hands together on her lap. ‘Nothing wrong with being organised, regulated, into an efficient routine and all that.’ Sounded a lot like what she’d do if she was a guy and was dating regularly.
Tahlia glanced up at Case, who was settling himself at the other side of the small table, his knees brushing against hers. ‘Doesn’t mean this is contrived,’ she blurted, blood rushing to her face and southward.
She stared at her place setting and straightened the cutlery. ‘That I’m just another woman to pass a meal with and try on for—’
‘Hey.’ Case reached across the table and held her hand. ‘I’m here with you because I want to find out more about you, because I’m interested in who you are, why you’re who you are,’ he said slowly, his voice deep and his sapphire-blue gaze on hers. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t make more of an effort with the dinner arrangements but it was short notice and I have a rapport here.’
‘That’s okay—’ she waved her other hand ‘—you don’t have to explain.’
‘I want to.’ He gave the hand captured in his a gentle squeeze. ‘I don’t want you to think for a moment that this isn’t special.’
Tahlia frowned. He couldn’t mean that. It was just a spiel. He was an expert, after all. A tall, handsome, amazing Casanova. ‘Really?’ she asked as innocently as she could.
‘Yes. I’ve brought dates here, but no one as inquisitive, observant and amazingly frank as you.’
She couldn’t help but smile. ‘Sorry. I’m not usually like this.’
‘Don’t be sorry,’ Case said, leaning closer to her. ‘I like you just the way you are.’
Tahlia’s chest warmed, filling her with a soft heat that radiated outward, making her whole body light and tingly.
She glanced at where his hand covered hers in his warmth, his strength, and she couldn’t help but like the feeling, like him.
No, not a good idea. She knew where liking a man got you—into loving a man, trusting a man and depending on him and she wasn’t going to experience that sort of vulnerability and loss, ever.
Sure, she respected the way he dealt with the staff but she’d confirmed his total lack of application to the Marketing job and all it entailed.
He had secured her promotion through dubious connections.
‘Case…that’s an odd name,’ she blurted, extracting her hand as slowly and as casually as she could before she did something she’d regret.
‘My father’s a lawyer,’ Case said, drawing his hand back and straightening his setting. ‘I think it was my mother’s way of tackling his workaholic nature. She’s a psychologist. Decided all she had to do to get him to switch on to giving me attention was to say my name. Case wants you. Spend some time on Case.’
‘Did it work?’
‘Yeah, pretty much.’ He shrugged, picking up the bottle of wine from the ice bucket. ‘Unless there was a case more important.’
‘Case priorities?’ she said softly, fighting a smile. She was glad her mother wasn’t the only strange one in the world. ‘I’m sorry… I do know the feeling.’
‘Your dad’s into work in a big way?’ Case asked, filling her glass.
‘Yes. He was.’
‘Was? He’s retired?’
She glanced around the busy restaurant—the tables all full, the soft murmur of couples doing little to ease the tension that pounded in her chest. ‘Deceased.’
‘I’m sorry. How did—’
‘So am I.’ Tahlia gripped her glass. ‘Is your dad retired?’
‘No. Still working, much to my mother’s dismay. She’s got a list a mile long of all the places she wants to go to, all the things she wants to see, and still he keeps on working.’
‘That’s sad. Does she have hobbies?’ she rushed on, eager to get as far from the issue of her father as quickly as possible.
‘Yes. Me.’
Tahlia couldn’t help but smile, relief washing through her at his dropping the subject of her father. ‘Let me guess… You’re her only child and she’s trying to get you married off so you can give her grandchildren, probably contacts you…almost daily…to ensure her plight is foremost in your mind at all times.’
Case laughed. ‘Spot on. How did you know?’
‘I’m an only child too.’ And she’d been hoping for years that her mother would start behaving like everyone else’s and care about that stuff. Now she was… Tahlia wasn’t so sure she liked it.
‘And your mother is after grandkids?’
Tahlia took a sip of the deep bold claret. ‘Always on my back.’ He didn’t have to know it was all about work, at least until tonight.
‘I guess it’s part of the job description. You’ll be just the same when you have kids.’
‘No way. I’m going to be nothing like my mother,’ Tahlia bit out. Visions leapt to her of her mother curled into a shattered ball on the bed she’d shared with her father, the days of tears, the weeks of silence, the haunted look in her eyes, still.
‘That’s what they all say,’ Case said lightly, but he couldn’t help but notice the stricken look on her face. ‘What? Have I said something…anything to—?’
‘Nothing,’ she said lightly, picking up the menu. ‘Let’s order. I’m starving. Chefs in places like these take for ever in getting food to the table.’
Case nodded, picking up his menu, casting his eyes over the list of cuisine his restaurant offered. She may have guessed he brought all his women here, but not why. And she wouldn’t be able to fault the service. Everyone knew who he was…and no one disappointed the boss.
He gripped the menu, the words blurring. He was bursting to tell her.
Case took a gulp of the red wine. For the first time since Celia he wanted to tell a woman all about himself, all his assets, all his achievements, including making this struggling enterprise one of the top five restaurants in Melbourne.
He wanted to impress Tahlia, see her awe, hear her praise, see a warmth in those sea-green eyes that was just for him. ‘You do want kids, though?’
Tahlia glanced up, her eyes wide. ‘Ye-es, at a later stage I would like to have a couple of children,’ she said carefully. ‘But I wouldn’t bring them into a relationship that wasn’t absolutely totally stable and loving.’
‘Me neither.’ He lifted his arm and a waiter arrived at the table at the ready. ‘I’d like the quail entrée, Piper’s Peppered Steak with the Chef’s Best Salad and the Raspberry and Apple Pie with cream.’
The waiter turned to her.
‘Quail,’ she said, nodding to Case, her eyes bright. ‘The chicken breast with garden salad and a chocolate cheesecake.’
‘Is your mother local?’ he asked, watching her take a sip of the red wine, her lips almost as dark, looking as rich and sweet as cherries, just begging to be tasted.
‘Ye-es,’ she said slowly, her gaze on him. ‘My mother took a job here just after I first moved to Melbourne to work with WWW Designs. I don’t blame her for coming too. I wouldn’t want to be all alone and she is all alone and I understand that I’m all she has and all—’
Case heard the flood of sweet words from her mouth, saw the shine in her eyes as she dropped her gaze to the setting in front of her, and wanted her. Desperately, totally wanted her…never to be alone.
He swallowed hard. ‘God, you’re beautiful.’
Tahlia glanced up at him, a soft flush on her cheeks. ‘You don’t have to resort to flattery to get me to talk,’ she said casually. ‘Shoe size? Seven and a half. How I take my coffee? Black with no sugar. Where I go on holiday? Anywhere that has a seminar that can help my career. So what do you want to know?’
Case shook his head. ‘Can’t a guy make an honest comment about his date’s extraordinary beauty without it being taken as a means to an end?’
She shook her head. ‘No.’
A waiter moved between them brandishing their entrées, the sweet scent of the freshly roasted delicacy wafting around them.
‘You seem dedicated to work.’ Case stripped the small quail of its meat, the prized morsels melt-in-the-mouth soft. ‘Your file is impressive. You’ve done a lot in a few short years.’ He glanced at her, trying to make her out.
She placed her hands in front of her. ‘So you finally read my file.’
Finally, for the twentieth time. She was twenty-six years old and had worked diligently, pursuing her career, yet still seemed so young and innocent in so many ways. ‘You mustn’t have had time for much of a personal life.’
Tahlia put down her fork, staring at him. ‘No, not much of one, but I’ve had my fair share of boyfriends.…if that’s what you’re asking.’
Case shook his head. ‘You are amazingly frank, Miss Moran.’
‘You are incredibly nosey, Mr Darrington. Anyone would think you have an ulterior motive.’
‘I do.’
‘Oh?’
‘I’m seriously interested in all my employees, but I don’t usually take them out for dinner.’
‘And why am I so different?’ she asked softly, watching him with narrowed eyes.
‘Because you fascinate me.’
She stared at her plate. ‘I—’
He’d scared her away. He could see the hesitation in her eyes, hear it in her voice, feel it in every aching muscle in his body.
‘Not that I don’t usually bend my principles for a pretty woman,’ he blurted. ‘Or go after something I want…’ Dammit, he was digging himself deeper.
