“How on earth did you manage to get a table here?” The last thing Lara had expected to be doing the evening after meeting the whole of the Kingston family, and proceeded to insult at least two of them, was for her and Malachi to be escorted to a window table in one of London’s most exclusive restaurants.
Malachi waited until the waiter had left their menus and moved away from their table before answering. “I booked it.” The three words were half statement, half question, as if Malachi thought that should have been obvious.
Lara knew this restaurant’s reputation was so good, it was reputed to be completely booked for months in advance. And yet here they were, and obviously being shown to one of the best tables in the crowded room.
Lara had a feeling Casper Kingston’s hacking ability must have had something to do with that.
Malachi had telephoned her this afternoon and told her he would pick her up at seven thirty to take her out to dinner. He hadn’t asked, just told her as a statement of fact. With any other man, she would have been annoyed at his high-handedness, but with Malachi, it was just par for the course. Besides, she really wanted to see him again after their strained parting the previous day.
She’d dressed appropriately for an evening out, in a classic above-the-knee black dress and black shoes with four-inch heels. Her red curls were secured at her crown, her makeup slightly more than she would usually wear; mascara lengthening her lashes, a light foundation covering her freckles, a peach gloss on her lips. She was glad she’d taken the trouble once they’d arrived at this exclusive restaurant.
Malachi looked tall, dark, and devastatingly handsome, of course, in black evening clothes, a snowy white shirt, and a blue bowtie which suspiciously looked to be the exact same color as her eyes.
He smiled when he saw her looking at his throat. “Sinclair suggested I wear it because he said it’s the same color as your eyes.”
Malachi really was the strangest man Lara had ever met, but she was getting used to his bluntness. More than that, she liked it. And him. A lot.
How many times during school and university had she questioned herself regarding a man she found attractive. Does he like me? Is he going to ask me out? Is he going to kiss me at the end of the evening? With Malachi there was none of that uncertainty. He’d already told her exactly what his intentions were. He was just waiting for her to catch up before making them a reality.
Something she had seriously doubted he still felt after his abrupt departure yesterday evening.
“I really didn’t mean to be insulting to Sinclair yesterday. Or Casper,” she added with a sigh.
“They aren’t insulted.”
Her eyes widened. “They aren’t?”
He shrugged. “According to Felix, we all have skins as thick as a rhinoceros, so I’m guessing it would take a lot to insult one of them.”
“But you seemed angry when you left.”
Malachi shook his head. “I told you, you’ve never seen me angry.”
“So, your brothers really weren’t insulted?”
He shrugged. “We all knew you were being defensive.”
“So that means it doesn’t count that I said and implied some really personal things about Sinclair and Casper?”
“Oh, it counts, and I would rather you didn’t do it again, but we all understand the strain you have been, and still are, under.”
She released a relieved breath. “I really am sorry.”
He nodded. “So, let’s move on.”
“You look very handsome in evening clothes,” she complimented.
She’d become aware during the past few minutes that several other women in the room were either openly ogling Malachi or giving him sideways glances so that their own male companion wouldn’t know their attention had been claimed by another, more dangerously attractive man.
Malachi, of course, was totally oblivious to those stares. His whole attention was concentrated on Lara.
Which was the only reason she wasn’t giving any of those other women an eyes off, he’s mine scowl of warning.
There was also the possibility that might no longer be true and Malachi had only asked her out so he could let her down gently.
Lara immediately dismissed the idea. Malachi was always truthful. He would have told her long before now if this was just an it isn’t your fault, it’s mine goodbye dinner. Besides, the situation with Taylor hadn’t been resolved yet.
Even so, there was no denying that Malachi hadn’t kissed her hello when he came to her apartment to pick her up for their date, nor had he touched her beyond placing a hand lightly beneath her elbow as he escorted her to and from his car.
Lara blinked back tears as she studied the menu. “There aren’t any prices,” she murmured.
* * *
“Restaurants like this one rarely include them,” Malachi dismissed.
“On the basis that if you managed to get a booking here at all, you don’t need to know how much your meal is going to cost,” Lara derided.
Malachi studied her for several seconds. “Is that reverse snobbery?”
“Probably,” she admitted with a wince. “Have you been here before?”
“Once, I think.”
“You think?”
“I don’t really remember it, but the décor looks familiar.”
“Were you with a woman?”
“Probably.”
“I see.”
“Lara?” he prompted as she continued to study the menu, and yet Malachi was sure she wasn’t really reading it. “Lara, talk to me,” he pressured.
* * *
Lara’s stomach had roiled at hearing Malachi so readily admit to having brought a woman here before her.
Was she jealous?
Unfortunately, that’s exactly what she was. It wasn’t logical. It certainly wasn’t fair to Malachi when she kept blowing hot and cold herself, but that didn’t stop it feeling any less real.
She glanced up when he rose to his feet to come round the table and take one of her hands in both of his before dropping onto his haunches beside her. “What are you doing?” Several people at neighbouring tables were now openly staring at them.
Oh my God, Lara really hoped none of them thought Malachi was about to go down on one knee and propose to her!
He’d already told her he loved her, and that he intended asking her to marry him at the right time, but they both knew—didn’t they?—that this was far from being the right time.
Besides, Malachi might have reassured her that Sinclair and Casper weren’t upset with her, but she still wasn’t sure Malachi had forgiven her for the way she’d spoken to his brothers yesterday.
His fingers tightened about hers and brought her thoughts back to the present. “It was years ago when I came here the first time. I think this place had just opened. I don’t even remember who I came here with, or why. Do you believe me?” His gaze was troubled.
“Of course, I believe you,” she assured without hesitation.
“Good.” He nodded before releasing her hand and returning to his seat.
Lara breathed a sigh of relief as the other diners’ attention returned to their own companions. “Are we here because Gerard Taylor is going to be dining here too?”
“Lord, I hope not.” Malachi’s expression was akin to that of a hunted man as he glanced around the full restaurant. “I’ve had more than enough of him for a few days.”
Lara frowned her puzzlement. “Then why are we here?”
“I don’t understand.”
“I assumed when you asked me out this evening and then brought me to this restaurant that it must be because Taylor was dining here too.”
Malachi looked at her blankly for several long seconds before shaking his head. “I still don’t understand.”
“Let’s start again.” She placed the menu down on the table. “Why did you bring me here?”
“To eat dinner.”
Hm, obviously, her question hadn’t been specific enough. “Why?”
“Because when you work nights, I noticed you don’t feed yourself properly.”
Obviously, she needed to be even more specific. “Malachi, are we here on a date?”
“Yes.”
“Oh.” She was silent for several heartbeats. “Why?”
“Because my brothers and sisters-in-law pointed out that we’ve not been on one yet and women like to be romanced, not just taken to bed.”
Lara felt her cheeks heat at the thought of his family knowing, even if they hadn’t dated, the two of them had done plenty of other things together. “Isn’t it a little late for that?”
“Is it?” Malachi looked alarmed. “I really did fuck up when I left so abruptly last night, didn’t I? Darius said I had, but when I tried to come back to your apartment to explain, he said I should leave it for now. My sisters-in-law agreed and said I should arrange something special for tonight instead. Something romantic.”
Lara’s tension eased when she saw how upset he was at the thought of her not wanting to be with him. “I’m more than happy just to spend the evening with you, I don’t need the other stuff.”
“You are?”
Her heart clenched at how hopeful he looked. “I am. And although it’s very thoughtful of you to bring me to such an exclusive restaurant,” she continued carefully, “I can’t help wondering whose booking Casper had to cancel so that we could come here in their stead.”
“A married banker and his mistress, I think he said,” Malachi dismissed.
“Oh well, in that case…” She frowned. “As this is such a popular and exclusive restaurant, wouldn’t he be recognized and his wife find out if he brought a mistress here?”
“She was apparently spending the night at home with her personal trainer.” He grimaced. “I guess they’ll both have to make other arrangements.”
Lara shook her head. “How does Casper learn these things?”
Malachi shrugged. “His hacking skills are off-the-charts amazing.”
This was the ideal time for Lara to ask if those skills had helped Casper to hack into Taylor’s cell phone and laptop too, but she was loath to reintroduce that bastard into their conversation. “Okay. So, we’re here on a date?”
“We are, yes,” he agreed before wincing. “I should have asked you out when I rang earlier rather than told you we were going out to dinner, shouldn’t I?”
Lara was too relieved Malachi still wanted to be with her after she had insulted his family yesterday to care whether he had asked her on this date. “No, this is fine,” she assured. “But… I don’t want to sound as if I’m…interfering, but I know that people who have some of…the same challenges you do often have problems with the foods they want to eat too. While I’m sure it’s delicious, the food on this menu looks far too…complicated for someone who has strong food preferences.” There were far too many sauces and vegetable coulis on everything for her own liking, yet alone Malachi. And she hadn’t even looked at the dessert menu yet.
“That’s why I’d put everything about this place firmly out of my mind,” Malachi remembered. “The last time I was here, my date for the evening didn’t appreciate me instructing the waiter to ask the chef to cook me a completely plain steak, with no salt and no garlic, with a side order of broccoli and carrots, also with no condiments added. She said I was being insulting to the chef.”
“I wouldn’t mind if you did that,” Lara assured him softly, mentally berating that other woman for trying to make Malachi feel uncomfortable over something he couldn’t help.
“It’s the reason I said good night outside to whoever she was, and then put her in a cab before going home alone.”
Lara felt a warmth in her chest at hearing that. “I’d much rather you enjoyed what you ate rather than caring whether or not some pretentious chef felt insulted by your choices.”
Malachi nodded. “I know that, which is why I’m already in love with you,” he stated happily.
Lara moistened her lips before speaking. “And why I’m halfway in love with you.” Malachi deserved the same honesty that he gave so readily.
His eyes widened. “You are?”
Lara was pretty sure she was completely in love with him, but in reality, they had only known each other for a matter of days.
“Malachi, you’re the most honest, loving, loyal, romantic man I’ve ever met, so of course I’m already halfway in love with you,” she told him warmly. “Don’t let anyone ever tell you that cooking a meal for a woman isn’t the height of romance, because I can assure you, it is.”
He looked pleased with himself. “I did something right.”
“Everything you do is right because it’s completely you, being you, and that makes it acceptable behavior.” She closed the menu before putting it to one side. “It’s because I care for you and your comfort that I would much rather leave here and go somewhere we can both enjoy what’s on the menu.”
He blinked. “You would?”
She nodded. “Do you like Italian food? Because there’s an amazing family-run Italian restaurant close to my apartment. I’m sure we’d be able to get a table.” She knew the middle-aged couple who ran and owned it well enough to know they would never turn her away. Mama Rosetti would be ecstatic at seeing her at the restaurant with a man.
“If we go there, I would still ask for the pasta to have no slimy sauce on it, or a pizza with no tomato sauce on it, for the same reason,” he warned.
“Papa Rosetti will happily cook the meal exactly as you want it,” she said with certainty. She had no qualms about the couple readily providing a meal Malachi could eat.
“They can also give me all the garlic bread in the building! Except…” He winced. “Garlic isn’t conducive to you wanting to kiss me good night at the end of the evening.”
“I’ll eat some of the garlic bread too,” she promised before looking at him from beneath lowered lashes. “And maybe we’ll get to kiss each other good morning instead of good night?”
Malachi looked at her blankly for several seconds as he obviously processed what she’d just said. Lara waited patiently while he did so.
Then, like a lightbulb being switched on, his eyes widened and a wide smile appeared on those sculptured lips. “Let’s go.” He threw his napkin down onto the table before coming round to pull back her chair so that she could also stand.
They totally ignored the stares of the other diners, didn’t even pause long enough to make their apologies to the waitstaff or the maitre d’ hovering near the doorway, as they swept hand in hand out of the restaurant.