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“I’m an only child and I was born in Melbourne. Your brother is Thomas. I was thinking that after Wheatner and Ross come back with the revised promotional—”
“Tilda.”
Warren’s voice snaked through the low light of the dining room to seep through her chest with jagged teeth, freezing her vocal chords.
“Is it that difficult to put work aside for an hour?” He cocked his head. “No judgment on this side of the table, if so. I’m the last person to cast the first stone when it comes to being all about the work. But it’s Saturday night and I want to have a nice dinner with my wife, not with a project manager.”
He wanted to what? “I’m only your project manager. The rest is strictly for show. In order to keep me in the country.”
Wasn’t it? Something unnamable gripped her shoulders, tightening them as she contemplated the gorgeous face of the man she’d married, who didn’t seem all that boss-like as he nodded his agreement.
“Yes. And no. It strikes me as ironic that we’re so similar. Here we are, married, and we can barely have dinner together without resorting to work. Maybe it’s an opportunity to practice relaxing. For both of us. I like that we’re on the same wavelength about nearly everything. It facilitates a good working relationship. I don’t want the fact that we now live together to interfere with how we work together, and it feels like there’s a potential for that if we can’t eliminate the weirdness.”
Oh, God, she was going to botch this whole thing up. He could feel her hesitancy, the way she tensed up the moment he looked at her with the slightest bit of warmth. And he was calling her on it. How was she supposed to stop being a freak about a man getting personal with her? “Seems to me like the best way to eliminate the weirdness is to talk about work.”
Yes. Work. The one place she felt one hundred percent safe.
He flashed her a smile. “Which is what I’d rather do. I’m asking you to humor me, as this is a difficulty of mine as well.”
How could she say no to that? He was asking her for help with his own social clumsiness, which she’d never have called a failing in a million years. “I like that you’re so business focused. There’s a certain confidence required to be the CEO and you carry it well.”
It was far sexier than it should be. She’d never admit it out loud, but she could certainly visualize how those skills might extend to the bedroom. She could pretend she might drop a few hints about the nature of her undergarments, just to see where that led.
Now that she was thinking about them, the tiny scraps chafed the intimate places they covered, teasing up a fair amount of unexpected heat. She couldn’t seem to ignore the fact that she was wearing the most daring lingerie she owned while having dinner with her husband.
What would he say if he knew?
The bubble of awareness grew until she could hardly stand it.
His gaze caught hers, burning with a strange intensity, as if he’d guessed the direction of her thoughts. “I like that you think that.”
What was this conversation they were having? Normally, Warren had the concept of distance down to a science. That was why they worked so well together.
This had nothing to do with feeling pressured and everything to do with the sudden chemistry between her and Warren that she had no idea how to handle. Okay, she had ideas. So many ideas…
“But,” he continued. “I was being serious about the interviews. No time like the present to get more comfortable about being a couple. Soon enough, we’ll have to do it for real in front of government officials.”
That popped her bubble in a hurry. She’d been lulled into a false sense of security where she could ignore the marriage part of this marriage and still get her green card. He was right. It simply wasn’t going to be that easy. And utilitarian tasks she could handle.
“I like books,” she offered warily. “Cozy mysteries.”
“I don’t think I know what that means.” Finally, he picked up his fork, starting to eat as if this really was a casual dinner between a married couple with no expectations. “Tell me.”
She launched into a rundown of the difference between cozy mysteries and detective stories. This was an innocuous enough subject that she didn’t feel uncomfortable. But she was going to have to figure out how to be a little more open with him or they could be in trouble with her green card. How much trouble, she didn’t want to find out.
He asked her a few questions, guiding the conversation well enough that she’d taken the last bite of her green beans without realizing she’d cleaned her plate. Huh. Somewhere along the way, he’d gotten her to relax. Good. She could do this. Being married to Warren wasn’t any different than being his employee, and they’d navigated dinner without a lot of hoopla.
