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"Wow, that's extremely generous, but—"
He shook his head. "I insist."
"Do you even care if I like opera?"
His brows lifted. "Don't you?"
"I've been once or twice, but you should probably ask,” I chided.
His return smile was teasing but made my stomach turn. "Well, if you ask first, you leave room for someone to say no. And I was taught in business that you never, ever do that."
I acquiesced because I was supposed to, not because I wanted to. "Well, okay then, the opera. Sure, why not?"
I didn't want to go to the opera, but Tabatha Bracknell needed to. I needed to advance this to get closer to him. We still hadn't gotten what we needed from him. We'd gotten some details from the bugs, but not enough. Nothing really impactful. There had to be somewhere else where we could get information.
"I wish my mother was in town. She loves the opera, and she would have loved to meet you. She's always been on me about finding the right kind of woman. She will love you."
"Oh, I don't know about that. After meeting your father, maybe I’ll pass."
"Don't worry. My mother is progressive."
I blinked at him slowly. "Progressive?"
Not realizing that he'd stepped in it, he kept on talking. "Oh yeah, she's not small-minded at all. You know, she once did Peace Corps work in Africa. She’ll be thrilled at the prospect of brown grandchildren."
My gut turned. "Oh, Peace Corps work. That’s great."
Don't even get me started on the Peace Corps. While there was good work to be done, the methodology of carrying out that work was often problematic. But okay.
"She's very open-minded."
I knew he was saying, ‘She might not care so much that you're black.’ Unlike his father.
"Well, that's lovely."
"And you love art. She'll be enamored by you. I can see her now saying, 'My darling, what an unusual shade of hair.' You two will be fast friends."
"Oh, I'm glad you think so. Is she not in town? When do I get to meet her?"
"No, she's in the States for a bit. And then she'll likely be off to the summer house in Runnymede.”
Bingo. "Oh, you have a summer house?"
He laughed. "Yes. Not that she's there often, but it's her favorite residence. She spends some time there, and then some time in Paris, and of course, Saint-Tropez. It's sort of our summer round up."
"Wow, will you be joining her?"
"Some when I'm not working. Mum and I are very close. But if you join us, it will be even better."
"That's great."
He stepped back, taking me in. "Now that I think about it, if we’re going to the opera, you will need something appropriate to wear."
"I'm sure I have a dress somewhere."
"No, not just a dress, love. It needs to be appropriate. Come on, I'll take you shopping. We'll hold off on eating for right now."
My eyes went wide. "I honestly don't need you to take me shopping."
