Page 86 of Off Limits Mogul

I hang my head in defeat.

“You did nothing wrong. It’s all on me,” he says. “There’s something between us.”

He’s going to let me down gently.

“Okay,” I say.

“Okay?” He looks offended.

“What do you expect me to say? I don’t know where this conversation is going.”

“Fair enough. I’m the one who called.” He pauses. “Last Sunday, after the bike ride––”

“I shouldn’t have flashed you. I’m sorry.”

I hide my face in my hand.

Another rejection.

“I’m not sorry.”

I lift my eyes up to the screen. “You’re not?”

“I’m not,” he says. “My only regret is not manning up.”

“Huh?”

“I’m not going to rehash the past, because we’re in the here and now.”

That was German to me.

“I was thinking we should go out for dinner tomorrow night.”

Dinner?

That’s not what I expected.

The flicker of hope dies, and my heart sinks again.

“That sounds good,” I say, incapable of mustering an ounce of enthusiasm.

“Since we live together, it’s easy to do things backwards…”

I frown my confusion. “I don’t follow.”

“I want to take you out on a proper date before we explore what’s been playing out between us since you arrived.”

I’m pretty sure I misheard him.

“A date?”

“A date.”

“As in a date-date?”

“Yes. As in a man taking out a woman he’s unreasonably attracted to for a nice meal at a fancy restaurant.”

My heart climbs into my throat.