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“I said no.” I rose to my feet again. “We don’t sit around and talk. We don’t share a bottle of wine on a date. We fuck—that’s it.”
“Who said it was a date?”
“Then what else is it?”
He shrugged. “We’re going to be working together for a long time. Maybe we should get to know each other.”
“If you meant that, you would show me exactly what documents you’re looking for.”
He held my gaze, his eyes hiding his thoughts so perfectly.
“Hades, let’s get something straight.” I slowly lowered myself back into the chair. “We meet in a hotel room a few nights a week. We don’t need to make small talk. We don’t even need to pretend to care about each other. It is what it is, and that’s what makes it so good. So just leave it alone.”
He relaxed against the back of the chair, his jaw slightly tight like he was taking my words with a grain of salt. “Alright.”
Good. The argument was over.
“Some guy break your heart?”
“Excuse me?” I blurted, provoked by the blunt question.
“You’re so cold, I had to ask.”
“I’m not cold. Just not looking for a relationship.”
“And why is that?” he asked, tilting his head to the side.
“Does it matter?”
“It matters to me.”
I’d never had a guy drag this information out of me. All of my other flings were easy to walk away from. They happened, and when they were done, it was over. “I just don’t want to be in a relationship. I like playing the field. I like seeing what’s out there.” Not that it was any of his business.
He looked confused, like he couldn’t believe what I’d just said.
“I don’t want to be tied to one man. I don’t want to fall in love. I just want to focus on me.”
He still looked perplexed. “I’ve never heard a woman say that before.”
“I don’t see why it’s so hard to follow. Most men don’t want to be in a relationship, and they give you the exact same response. But since I’m a woman, there must be something wrong with me. It’s sexist and annoying.”
His confusion disappeared. Now his expression was hard to read. He was just a beautiful man staring at me. “What about kids?”
“What about them?”
“You never want to have a family?”
“I never said I never wanted to get married. I’m just not interested in something serious right now. I’m only twenty-two and not in any hurry to settle down. I just want to have fun and not owe anyone an explanation. Don’t expect me to apologize for being honest. So, if you’re looking for something permanent or long-term, I’m not your girl.”
“I can see that.” He smiled slightly. My speech seemed to amuse him. Instead of taking it seriously and matching my somber mood, he found it comical, even though that wasn’t my intention. “I’m not looking for that either. You and I have the same interests. That being said, I would love to take you to dinner. I would love to stare at you over candlelight, share a bottle of wine with you, and then fuck you exactly how you want me to.”
Now that my desires were completely clear, I didn’t see the harm in it. “Someone might see us together…”
“I don’t give a fuck who sees us together. Gustavo needs me more than I need him, so if he has a problem with it, that’s too damn bad.”
“But it could make me look bad. The board already doesn’t like me.”
“That’s your problem right there.”
“Excuse me?” Sometimes he was calm, and sometimes he was aggressive. I never knew what he was going to hit me with.
“You care what other people think. People will respect you a lot more when you don’t.”
Hades and I sat at a table in the back, far away from the other guests enjoying their meals in the dim lighting, with the sounds of the Spanish guitar and the clanking of glasses as people made their private toasts. The place was fancier than I expected, so my dress felt a little casual.
He didn’t seem to mind.
He ignored the menu in front of him and immediately ordered a bottle of wine for the table. Not once did he look at the waiter, and he didn’t bother to at least say hello first. He barked out orders like a general rather than a paying customer.
“I’m not impressed by the way you treat people.”
He stilled at my observation, subtly offended by what I said. “I know what I want, and I get to the point.”
“But there are better ways of getting that across.”
He held my gaze for nearly a minute as he formulated his response. “When you’re in charge, you make decisions. People turn to you for direction, and you give it to them. That’s the quality of a good leader.”
“But you aren’t the leader of this restaurant.”
