Page 20 of Do It With Me

“It’s blue, actually.”

One of her eyebrows arched. “Blue. Any particular shade?”

“Right now?” I smirked, twining my fingers around the stem of my wine glass. “Navy.”

Ellora stilled, her hand pausing halfway to the glass of wine I’d had poured for her before she’d arrived. “Navy? Like the dress.”

I looked right into her eyes, not quite sure what to think about the undercurrent buzzing between us all of a sudden, but I still told her the truth. “Precisely.”

Our server arrived then, breaking the unexpected moment we’d been having, and I ordered dinner for us both, steak for me, lasagna for her. By the time our appetizers arrived, a tasting platter for one for each of us, she’d started to relax a little bit. Her shoulders weren’t quite as tense and she was actually smiling when I told her about Jimmy almost falling off a golf cart last week.

“So he’s your vice president?” she asked, genuine curiosity sparking to life in her eyes. “How does that work, anyway? Is he running the company now that you’re teaching?”

I shook my head. “I’m still in charge. There’s no way I would ever give it up. My father started that company forty years ago as a local construction outfit. He built it from the ground up. Literally. He’d send a lightning strike at me from the afterlife if I ever tried to walk away completely.”

A deep kind of understanding I wouldn’t have expected from her softened her eyes. “Yeah, I think I know what you mean. It’s kind of like you’re bringing a part of them into the future with you by keeping it going.”

“Exactly.” I looked at her from across the table, those soft, angelic features and the kind eyes, and wondered why it seemed like she understood this better than anyone ever had when I hadn’t even said more than a few sentences about it. “What about you?”

“Nope.” She suddenly sat back, wrapping her fingers around her glass and lifting it to her lips, but not taking a sip. “This is your turn. We’ll get to mine.”

I inclined my chin. “Fair enough. Okay. What else is there? My father started the company, but I took over about ten years ago. After that, we started expanding steadily, we diversified our projects, and did a few other things and now we’re one of the largest urban developers in the state.”

This wasn’t usually the kind of conversation I broke out on a date, but Ellora seemed genuinely impressed. Her eyes were sparkling with real interest and she was holding my gaze without hers ever drifting away. Strangely, she seemed completely engaged in this.

“That’s impressive,” she said after swallowing a sip of her wine. “How does teaching figure into all that, though? I’m still trying to work out how you go from massively successful CEO to nighttime business college professor.”

I shrugged. “It started because I was at the point where I felt like I wanted to give back. I’d been doing that for a while by the time I took the offer from the Institute, mostly by restoring parts of the city. I’m still doing that as well, but now, I’m also doing it by teaching eager young businesspeople how to succeed in such a competitive world.”

“I bet your dad would be real proud of you,” she said quietly, a wistful little smile spreading on her lips. “My mom helped me start my shop, too. Back then, she was living in Chicago, but we planned everything over the phone and video calls. She helped me pick paint colors. The name, the place. All of it.”

I took a sip of my wine. “You two must be close.”

Her smile dimmed just slightly. “We are. She’s actually still helping me. It’s pretty special to get to work with her. She gives great advice.”

“What kind of shop is it?”

“A vintage thrift store,” she said, then arched an eyebrow at me. “I know a big, fancy developer like you might not think about it as a real business, but⁠—”

I cut her off without remorse. “Bullshit. Don’t give me that. You’re making a living from it, right? Pouring all of yourself into it? Constantly thinking about how it can be better?”

“Yes.”

“Then it’s a business.” I flicked my eyes from one of hers to the other. “The real question is why are you taking my class? What are you hoping to get out of it?”

She shrugged. “I’m trying to find ways to bring in more income. Maybe expand, eventually.”

I nodded, though part of me wondered what she wasn’t saying. I didn’t push. It wasn’t my place, but the thought lingered. There was definitely something she wasn’t telling me.

The waiter came by to refill our glasses, and she looked at me across the table, still cautious, but more curious now as well. I could get used to her looking at me. Just maybe with less caution.

Dismissing the thought as soon as I found myself thinking it, I glanced back at her over the rim of my wineglass. “If you ever have anything specific to ask, something we don’t cover in class, just come straight to me, okay? The course work itself is pretty general, but I’m happy to help however I can.”

She smiled. “I might take you up on that, but not today. I think you’ve earned a break from business talk.”

“Fair enough.”

Our food was served and I found myself watching her as she ate, surprised by her gusto. After dinner, I paid the check before she could argue about it. Then I walked her out. When we stepped onto the sidewalk, the air was cool, the city humming around us, but she didn’t seem to be in any hurry to leave.