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“Are you done?” His voice is low and gravelly.
“Hmm.” I nod.
He pulls out his phone and types something quick before saying, “Let’s go,” as he stands to his full height. All six-plus delicious feet of him.
I stand quickly, brushing my hands down the skirt of my knee-length dress, noticing his eyes watching the movement. I turn away from the table and he’s right behind me, his hand on the small of my back.
We make our way through the crowded restaurant, not surprised the place is still busy at half past nine. When we find ourselves outside, he’s standing so close to me that I can smell his cologne. A citrusy meets rich woody scent that makes me want to bury my nose in his chest just to inhale it deeply. But instead of cozying up to the man, I offer a simple solution.
“Do you want to come back to my place?” His nearness makes me forget my head and before I can lose my nerve, I add, “For some coffee, of course.”
I don’t know why I offer the coffee. We both know why I’m inviting him back to my apartment. And oh my, this isn’t normally my thing. Actually, it’s not my thing at all. I’ve never invited a man back to my place after drinks.
His eyes gleam, and he smirks. “It’s pretty late for coffee, don’t you think?”
Shit, what was I thinking?
“Tea, perhaps? Or water. Yeah, I’ve got bottles of water.”
His answering chuckle is low and has a direct line to my lady bits. He’s throwing me off my axis tonight. This is a different version of the man I’m used to dealing with. Grumpy Theo I could handle. This… this intrigued, relaxed, not-grumpy Theo makes me want hot and dirty things from him.
A black sedan pulls up to the curb and Theo nudges me toward the car. Confused, I step forward but look at him questioningly.
“My car,” he says as he opens the back door, but still, I don’t move to climb in.
My eyes widen and I grin. “You have a driver.”
He rolls his eyes. “I run a multibillion-dollar pharma company, Cassie. I have a driver.”
I giggle. “Of course.” And as I slide into the car, I smile at him knowingly.
He has a freaking driver. I make myself comfortable in the back seat, buckling as Theo joins me.
“Where is your apartment?” he asks as I look up from the buckle and see the man in the driver’s seat looking at me in the rearview.
In my best British voice, I rattle off my address and tell him I live in the Firehouse Square neighborhood. The man in the mirror smirks at me and responds in his own British accent.
Oh shit, is that real or is he playing along?
Theo grumbles, rubbing his hand over his cheek. “Cassie, this is my driver Tom. Tom, this hilarious woman is Cassie.”
I lean toward Theo and whisper, “Is he really British?”
His lips twitch again. “No.”
I let out a breath, relieved that I wasn’t just an asshole to the man driving us home.
“Was the accent supposed to mean something?” Theo asks.
“Oh, I was just being pretentious. Trying to fit in.” I elbow him lightly in the side. He takes up so much space in the small back seat, I don’t have to move far to be in his space.
“I’m not…” he trails off, then adds, “Tom only drives me to work functions. I drive myself mostly.”
My eyes dart to the man in question and if he’s paying attention to our conversation, he doesn’t let on. “Tonight was work?”
He shakes his head. “It was not. However, in order to keep Charlie in check, I have a reputation to uphold.”
“Interesting,” I say.
