and give Savannah tomorrow off.”
“Wait a minute,” Rick protested.
“Come on.” Rett dropped into the second visitor’s chair. “I bet she’s already put in over forty hours. With all the overtime she probably hasn’t even had a chance to pack. Have you?” He directed the question to Savannah.
“What?” Her eyes grew big as the attention centered on her. “Oh, well actually—”
“See.” Rett waved a triumphant hand. “Think about it,” he tossed at Rick. “In the meantime, why don’t I call and make reservations for the three of us for dinner. You both deserve a decent break.”
“I really should head home.” With a weary sigh Savannah rose to her feet, drawing Rick’s attention once again to her blouse, and the way sunshine clung to her breasts. Much as he strived for professional detachment, yellow had just become his new favorite color.
“No, join us,” Rett insisted. “You’ve worked hard. Let us treat you to dinner.”
She hesitated for a moment and then smiled. “Okay, you only have to ask me twice. Why don’t I meet you at the restaurant? Then I can just leave from there.”
They finalized plans and Rick insisted on walking her to her car. Then he followed her to his favorite steak house, silently cursing his brother’s interference.
Rick disliked mixing business with pleasure, and dinner with Savannah definitely blurred the edges of personal and professional. Her performance this week had surprised him; he could admit that. And despite the occasional distraction of her stunning legs or the sweet scent of her shampoo, they’d accomplished an amazing amount of work. She’d stayed calm and often anticipated him, providing reports and stats before he could ask.
Dinner should be innocent enough with Rett along.
Yeah, strictly business. In fact, he’d use dinner to discuss options on where they should open the first international store.
Unfortunately just as he reached the restaurant Rett called to say he couldn’t make it after all. Rick couldn’t help but curse.
Savannah waited just inside the door, buttoned into her jacket, her hair once again neat and tidy.
“Rett blew us off for a date, so I guess that leaves just you and me,” Rick said bluntly.
She bit her lip, drawing his attention to the plump, pink perfection of her mouth. “Maybe I should just go home. It’s been a long day.”
He should grab the offer, but the weariness in her sea-green eyes got to him. “No, stay. You have to eat and this will be better than some fast food you pick up on the way home.” Not waiting for an answer, he settled his hand in the small of her back and indicated to the maître d’ they needed a table for two.
She quickly stepped ahead of him, leaving him with a view of her gently swaying hips as he followed her to their table. Telling himself the hunger clawing at his gut was for food, he ordered a rib eye.
“I want something I can sink my teeth into,” he declared with a smile.
Rick’s words caused a fluttering in Savannah’s in-sides. She’d like to dismiss the response as a symptom of hunger, but unfortunately she was too self-aware for the flimsy excuse. Really, she should have headed straight home and avoided any chance of an intimate dinner with Rick. But the thought of having to cook after the long day—days—she’d put in held as little or less appeal than a plastic drive-through meal. And she’d thought she’d be safe with Rett along, too.
The waiter delivered their drink order. Rick placed both arms on the table and leaned forward. “I’ve pretty much narrowed the choice of location for the first store to London or Paris. I know you put together a list of properties earlier this week. What are your impressions?”
Okay, she knew the key to maintaining an emotional distance from him hinged on concentrating on work, and she appreciated being asked for her opinion. But she couldn’t take any more today. Her brain couldn’t hold another fact.
She inhaled a bracing breath, and then met his gaze. “Can we talk about something besides business?”
For a moment shock stole his voice. “What?” he managed to croak.
“My brain is fried. No more shop talk.” She outlined her rules in clear, concise terms.
Rick stared at her, clearly speechless. Yet after a moment he relaxed back into his seat and opened his hands, palms out to her. “Sure. We’ll talk about whatever you want.”
“Try to hold back your enthusiasm,” she said with a wry smile as she reached for a roll. Tearing it in half, she put the remaining half back in the bread basket.
Totally at ease in his habitual black suit and white shirt, Rick exuded elegance and class, putting most of the other men in the room to shame. The broad stretch of his shoulders and confident tilt of his dark head added to his sense of presence.
He looked good, really good. He always did, but tonight she found it hard to look away. She should be leery, especially when his gaze revealed he liked looking at her, too, but she didn’t have the energy. Instead she enjoyed the delicious tingle of excitement zipping along her nerves.
A sensation common sense promptly squashed.
She didn’t want the situation to change. She valued this job too much to risk it on the unsteady influence of romance.
“Okay.” Rick picked up the half roll, took a bite. “Where’d you learn to speak French?”
“High school. I took it instead of Spanish. And then I took an advanced class in night school. After the class ended a bunch of us would get together for dinner at a French restaurant once a month and only speak French. It helped to cement the language. Especially if others in the restaurant joined in.” She popped the last bite of roll in her mouth then licked a smudge of butter from her finger. “I sign up for classes and seminars all the time.”
“Seminars?” he asked, his interest caught. “What topics interest you?”
Lifting one shoulder in a half shrug, she said, “All kinds of things, child development, business courses, design, some self-help classes where you learn how to end clutter in your life or build up your psyche with daily affirmations. That kind of thing.”
“Ah.” He nodded in understanding. “Sounds … boring.”
His honesty surprised a laugh from her. “Some of it, yes. Some are ridiculous. Some are definitely more helpful than others. I just enjoy getting out, learning something new.”
“Like jewelry design and faceting?” he said.
“Exactly.”
The waiter arrived with their salads and to top up their water.
“Share something ridiculous,” Rick demanded as soon as the waiter left.
Ridiculous? That shouldn’t be hard. The man had a master’s degree in Business Administration; he’d probably find most of what she went for ridiculous. Actually, she knew just the thing to tickle his fancy.
“In
