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His smile only widened. “Hard not to with you on my arm, looking like this.”
The words made me feel faint. All I could do was squeeze his arm in return.
Leo steered me toward the door, his shoulders back and his chest puffed with pride. “Let’s do this.” He gave his name to the striking hostess as soon as we were inside, and I watched her practically drool over him as she checked the screen in front of her. If he noticed, he didn’t let on; though it wasn’t my place to care about any woman who might be interested in him.
“It looks like the others in your party are already here,” she chirped, looking up at Leo with a vivacious smile.
Leo nodded, but I felt his arm stiffen. I laid my free hand on his bicep, doing my best to anchor him. “Great, thanks,” he managed to reply.
We followed her into the restaurant and, though we held on to our confidence as much as we could, when our table came into sight we both seemed to make ourselves smaller. Christine was the first one to see us from where she sat between Alaric and another much younger man. She wore a pastel yellow gown and her hair was pulled up in a French twist that radiated elegance. There was no denying it—she was beautiful.
On either side of her, Alaric and the other man were engaged in a loud and animated discussion, both of them breaking into raucous laughter before Christine signaled to Alaric that we’d arrived. Just as we approached the table all three sets of eyes landed on us, and my heart jumped in my throat.
“Leopold.” Alaric sat back in his chair and looked up at Leo. “Glad you could finally make it, son.”
Leo’s eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly. “The reservation is for seven, Father, and it’s still ten minutes to. Though, it looks like you and Mom have been able to settle in just fine,” he said as he eyed the glass of bourbon his hand was wrapped around.
“Yes,” Alaric confirmed, eyes sharpening. “Luckily, we’ve had great company to keep us entertained. Leo, I’d love for you to meet our new friend, Tanner McCabe. Tanner earned himself some stripes in the tech industry with a handful of merger deals, and I’m looking forward to you getting to know him. Perhaps some of his fire and zest for business will do you some good.”
My eyes slid to the young man and found he was looking at me with a curious gaze. His dark eyes moved to Leo as he stood from his chair, reaching a hand across the table toward us. “It’s great to meet you, Leo. Your parents are wonderful people. I feel lucky our paths crossed earlier this week.”
Leo took his hand and shook it. “Nice to meet you, too,” he said stiffly. He turned back to his parents. “You both look lovely. Mom, you are as beautiful as ever. I hope you’re enjoying yourself.”
Christine’s smile was saccharine. “We’re just happy you’re here, honey.” Her eyes bounced to mine. “And you brought your friend.”
“Girlfriend,” Leo amended, his gaze darting to Tanner before addressing me. “Mara.” He smiled, and I could feel it shift from the cool, indifferent one to something real.
I turned to the others, demonstrating my best supportive-girlfriend-smile as Leo pulled a chair out for me to sit in—the one closest to Tanner. “Thank you so much for having us tonight—you’ve picked a wonderful place for dinner.”
“Have you been here before?” Christine asked.
I looked at her, praying my smile wouldn’t falter. “No, I haven’t. But I’ve heard wonderful things.”
Her lips pressed together and her eyes glinted like she already had me. I did my best not to show I noticed, shifting my gaze to Leo as he sat down beside me. He wrapped one arm across the back of my chair in reassurance, and I settled into his warmth with a level of comfort that was anything but fake.
Alaric swirled the glass of bourbon in front of him before taking a sip. “I was telling Tanner here about your recent acquisition,” he eyed Leo.
“Yes.” Tanner nodded. “Sounds like you’ve got yourself a fun little project! A nightclub?” His smile was wide and wicked as he leaned in closer. “Is it . . . is it like a topless thing?”
Alaric chuckled.
Leo straightened. “Topless?”
“Yeah, you know—” Tanner’s eyes bounced to me for a moment before he continued. “Like, strippers?”
Leo’s attention shifted back to Alaric. “Well, it looks like you left a lot of details to the imagination, didn’t you, Father?”
“Don’t be disrespectful,” Alaric scolded.
Leo turned to Tanner. “It’s not a strip club, it’s a nightclub—a very successful one at that. Mara has done an excellent job in creating an environment that attracts hundreds of customers each night.” He raised his hand and swiped his thumb lightly against the back of my neck. The next smile he gave me nearly knocked me to the floor. “She’s really the mastermind behind the whole operation.”
Alaric clicked his tongue. “You credit Mara with your success, then?”
Leo snapped his attention back to him. “Absolutely.”
The conviction in that one word made the tips of my fingers hum.
Before anyone could respond, a server came by to deliver a large platter of steamed mussels and two smaller plates of caviar with dry toast and some sort of white cream. Leo and I took the opportunity to order a bottle of white wine for us to share before he served us both some of the hors d’oeuvres while the others did the same for themselves. When he added a small spoonful of the cream on the side of my plate near the caviar, I looked up at him in question.
