“That doesn’t sound very relaxing,” he says softly. “Perhaps you need to do something fun after it.” His eyes gleam. “Like swimming.” I swallow too much air.
“I personally love swimming,” he continues in his low voice with a hint of humour in his eyes. “Really gets the blood pumping. Helps release tension. Especially if you have a great swimming partner.”
He slowly and deliberately runs his tongue over his bottom lip, smirking at me. I feel my face match the shade of the salmon tartare on the plate and I glance at the others. They look like smitten dogs.
“I love swimming too,” Amy chimes in.
“I would go swimming,” I reply, my throat dry, “if there weren’t so many arrogant swimmers in the water these days. It’s not worth it.”
He chuckles. The girls laugh loudly, overcompensating for their confusion. I don’t blame them; this conversation makes no sense. I’m wasting our precious moments with the CEO talking about arrogant swimmers?
“You should give it a chance again.” His lips twitch. “You might remember what you enjoyed about it. It can’t have been all bad.”
Sophie scrunches up her nose, very confused.
What’s he playing at?
“Maybe,” I squeak. Before he can respond, I down the last of my champagne. I’m going to have the final word here. “I have to run. I’m late. Enjoy your night.”
His smile vanishes as I slam the flute down on the bar, harder than I meant to.
Sophie flashes me a warning look.
Waving at the group, I turn on my heels, not looking back.
It’s a small victory. No one walks away from Tristan Kane.
Tristan
As I lift the velvet rope guarding the doorway, I see my best mates, Danny and Jack, already seated at the table. It’s sectioned off from the main restaurant because we like our dinners to be discrete, especially Danny, who finds random pictures of himself eating on the internet.
“Always late.” Danny rolls his eyes as I stride towards the table.
“Always busy,” I reply, smiling at the beautiful hostess who takes my coat. “Why did we choose this place?” I ask in a low voice when she’s out of earshot. “The reviews aren’t amazing. Their steak tartare is barely supermarket-worthy.”
Jack snorts. “Then don’t order the tartare, simple.”
Danny shakes his head. “I don’t know where it’s come from. Your parents are Irish, for Christ’s sake, you grew up eating potatoes as a staple. How are you such a food snob?”
“I’m making up for lost time.” I nod to the Scotch without an owner. “Is that mine?”
“We pre-ordered one for you.” Danny smirks. “We didn’t want to keep you waiting without a drink.”
They toast me, and I take a sip.
Jack leans in. “Why did you bail on the law society dinner? You go every year religiously.”
I take a larger sip of my Scotch. “I’m not in the mood. I went to the welcome drinks for the new interns instead.”
“How saintly of you.” Danny cocks a brow. “I’m assuming for Tristan Kane to grace his presence at a lowly intern event, a certain gorgeous young Greek Goddess was there?”
“She’s not Greek. I just met her in the Greek islands. And she’s not a damn intern either, she’s a junior lawyer.”
“You didn’t answer the question,” Danny fires back.
Jack scrunches up his nose. “Remind me how you managed to orchestrate it so that she works for Madison?”
“I didn’t need to. Elly did.” I shrug. “She studied law, and I own Madison Legal. It’s a no-brainer. Where else would she want to work? Lucky for me, she’s clever enough to make the cut.” I undo another button on my shirt. “I asked her to go to dinner with me. I couldn’t tell you guys at breakfast with Mum listening like a hawk.”
“She’s a bit of a live wire.” Jack chuckles. “Sneaking into hotels and staying the night there? Aren’t you paying your staff enough?”
“Don’t start. I’m hoping that was out-of-character behaviour.”
“Jack’s right.” Danny frowns. “She’s a junior at your firm. Is this wise?”
My face tightens. “It’s unfortunate but I’m not willing to give her up.” I run my hands through my hair. “It’s tortuous knowing she’s a few floors down. I can’t look at her without remembering her with her clothes off. I’m walking around with a permanent semi.”
Danny grins. “That must make work very…hard. So, when is this dinner date happening?”
I clench my teeth. “Actually, she said no.”
Jack presses his hands together in a slow, loud clap and looks at Danny. “This is a momentous occasion. The first lady in history to resist Mr. Kane.”
“It’s a setback,” I mutter. “I’ll talk her around. Although Rebecca will have my nuts for pursing a junior lawyer.”
Jack cocks a brow. “Then what? Once you’ve dipped your pen in your own company ink, then what?”
“Stop making it sound so sordid.”
“A junior and the boss?” Danny rolls his eyes. “This reeks of a mid-life crisis.”
“Speak for yourself.” I snort. “How’s my sister?” Last summer, Danny’s tech company, Nexus, acquired the firm that my younger sister, Charlie, worked for. They started an affair behind my back. It was a turbulent time, and our friendship hit the rocks for the first time in two decades. Needless to say, I wasn’t happy when I found out, but Danny seems to be serious about Charlie. Although it’s very early days.
“She’s great, we’re heading to Scotland next weekend.” He smiles. “Besides, you can’t compare. I’ll marry Charlie. Are you going to marry a twenty-five-year-old trainee lawyer that sleeps in linen closets and make her a stepmum? Can’t you just buy another sports car and get this crisis out of your system that way?”
All valid points.
“So why this woman?” Jack tilts his head studying me. “I’ve seen her, she’s gorgeous but you’ve been out with women just as beautiful. Can’t you just sleep with someone else who doesn’t work at Madison?”
I let out a heavy sigh. “It’s not just sex. I liked being with her. She’s funny. When I was with her I felt less stressed. Not to mention she’s intelligent. And being multilingual is sexy as fuck. I made her moan in Croatian.”
They exchange glances.
“Just fuck a language teacher in that case.” Jack laughs. “I think it’s because she’s resisting you.
This could all end in tears. Likely hers.”
“The odds are stacked against us,” I admit. “Besides, what twenty-five-year-old wants to carry my baggage?”
Danny’s brows furrow. “On that,” he starts carefully. “Are you going to talk about it?” “No.”
Danny darts a glance at Jack for backup.
Jack clears his throat. “We’re worried about you, man. This isn’t something you get over easily.” It. This.
Danny lowers his voice. “Tristan, you’ve barely talked about it since you found out. You’re bottling it up. This isn’t healthy.”