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Time passed unnoticed as she worked to unravel what was happening with the fund. Nothing she looked at made any sense.
“Were you planning to ditch out on dinner? You know I know where you work, right?”
Rowan gasped, pushing her chair back as she turned to her door. Gerard was leaning against the door jamb, looking as handsome as ever in his suit. He’d taken the tie off and opened the top couple buttons on his shirt and the effect was…devastating. And he was smiling. Smiling! Her heart raced, and she had trouble catching her breath.
“You, umm, you startled me.” Lame. True, but lame.
“When you didn’t show up for dinner, I got concerned. So I came back to look for you.”
“It’s not time for—” She glanced at the clock on the wall. Oh, shit. Almost eight.
“Oh, my God. I’m so sorry. I got into something here and lost complete track of time.” She slipped on her shoes and stood.
“I gathered that,” he said.
“How long have you been standing there?”
“Long enough to see how focused you are when you’re working.”
“Oh, wow.” She leaned over and shut her laptop, grabbed her suit jacket, and rounded the desk. “I had no idea it had gotten so—” She froze at the look on his face. “Are you all right?”
His gaze traveled the length of her like a panther eyeing prey. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he lingered on her chest before raising his eyes back to her face.
“You—” He stopped and cleared his throat. “You look amazing.”
The compliment infused her with a warm glow. Rowan couldn’t help but smile. “You look pretty good yourself.” Her smile dimmed. “I’m really sorry I messed up our business dinner.”
“You haven’t. Not yet. They are holding our reservations.”
“I had no idea that could even be done, especially at Aversano’s.”
“It can. Are you ready?”
“Yes.” She grabbed her purse and led the way out of the office. With Gerard walking beside her, his hand on her back as if guiding her, she felt branded by his touch. Thank God, no one else was here to see this. At the elevator, she pushed the button and turned to face him, trying to put some distance between them. The man was just too much…man.
Her boss smiled as if he knew her ploy, but mercifully, he kept silent.
He didn’t bring up driving again, but walked her to her car and opened the door for her before heading to his own vehicle, where a driver stood ready. Rowan followed them to the restaurant. Once inside, they were shown to a table for two near the back.
She craned her neck to look around. She’d only eaten here once and hadn’t had the wherewithal to appreciate the place. There were richly colored Tuscany landscape murals on the walls. “It’s beautiful here.”
Gerard held her chair out for her. “You’ve never been here before?”
“Actually, I have. Once. With my mother.”
When Rowan cupped her chin in her hand, elbow on table, and looked around, the sadness-tinged look on her face tugged at something completely foreign to him. Heartstrings for lack of a better word. No one had ever looked like that when thinking of him. For the first time in his life, he wanted that. Wanted someone to miss him.
“Is your mother gone?”
“What? Oh, no.” She grabbed her napkin and placed it on her lap. “Mother is fine. Just, well, that was the night she left my father.”
“Not a fun thing to go through as a child.”
She ran a finger around the rim of her water glass. “I was already an adult, and honestly, it was the best thing that ever happened to my mother.”
Gerard frowned. “Was your father abusive?” This was a TMI question, and it surprised him that he asked it. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”
“It’s all right. No, Dad wasn’t verbally or physically abusive to my mother, me, or my brother. He just…wasn’t there. Being there would have required prying himself away from his desk.” She straightened, looking down at her plate and shifting her silverware. Her father was a subject she didn’t want to discuss, apparently. That intrigued him. He liked complicated layers, and Rowan presented more than one that he wanted to peel back to find out what made her tick.
