The two of them walked from the room and took the elevator down, then slipped out the back door, where a limo was waiting. She found a bit of guilty pleasure in the ride, but was frustrated since she was trying to ease away from such an extravagant lifestyle, trying to fit in more in normal society. Ian was really pulling out all the stops on this adventure, though, and she couldn’t fault him for showing her what he considered the ultimate in romance.
“Where are we headed?”
“That is a surprise,” he said as they drove through the city.
When they arrived at the heliport, she raised an eyebrow but didn’t ask any more questions. He wasn’t going to tell her, so it wouldn’t do any good.
She’d flown many times with her brother in a helicopter and felt no fear as Ian helped her get situated before speaking to his pilot. Then he sat next to her in the luxury machine, and she sat back and waited for the fun to begin.
Yet they were flying out across the ocean, and Rachel was thoroughly confused. She’d expected him to be taking her somewhere in Florida, but they went instead farther and farther out to sea.
Lights appeared on the ocean surface, and her eyes widened in pleasure as the chopper began making its descent. She turned to grin at him as they landed on a giant yacht in the middle of the ocean. The vessel they’d just landed on made her brother’s boat look small.
“Is this yours?” she asked. She’d known Ian was wealthy, but this was a whole new level of wealth, at least equal to that of her brother’s, and she found that hard to believe. Ian had a certain arrogance about him, but he didn’t seem like others she’d met in the billionaire class she’d been around her entire life.
“No. It’s a friend’s,” he replied.
They’d agreed on not asking personal questions, but curiosity was eating her alive. But caution dragged her more firmly into the opposite direction. If she asked him questions, she reminded herself, Ian might answer. The problem? The price would be her own story, and she didn’t want to tell it. So she kept quiet.
“It’s beautiful,” she said instead.
“Yes, she is a beauty. My friend has excellent taste. Right this way.” He leapt from the craft, then reached for her hand to assist her, and led her from the landing to an elevator that took them down a couple of levels.
When the doors opened, she laughed in delight at the dim room with a candlelit table set up in one corner, and a small group of musicians on the opposite side playing classical music.
“You are quite the romantic, Ian,” she said as he led her to the table.
“Only when I’m inspired,” he whispered in her ear. Chills traveled down her spine.
If she had only two nights left, then this was the way to end things.
“Do I inspire you?” she asked, knowing she shouldn’t fish for compliments, but unable to help herself.
“Oh, yes. You have greatly inspired me, Rachel. I fear letting you go won’t be such an easy endeavor.”
The serious look in his eyes had her heart racing.
No. She had to change the subject. They must keep their affair light and brief. It was the only way. Looking around, she saw that no one else was in the room with them yet, making her bold.
“Well, then, you’d better hold on tight while we still have time,” she said as she rose from the table, and slowly walked to him, sitting down on his lap.
“I will learn your secrets, Rachel. I have decided I want to know them.”
Rachel leaned in and kissed him, needing to distract them both before she made a fool of herself.
Chapter Eighteen
Ari
“…Then my wife took all the furniture and I walked into the house to find nothing but dust balls all over the place. It wasn’t bad enough that she had to clear me out, but she was a slob on top of it. I can’t stand filth. A woman should care enough about her home to want to keep it clean.”
Ari had to fight to keep from chewing out Dr. Lynn Sherman, the world’s most boring podiatrist, who just happened to be sitting across from her at the nice Italian restaurant. She was thankful for the decent wine, because if she hadn’t had it, she might not have been able to hold her tongue. Not that she should have had to.
She was also ready to kill her friend Amber, who had set her up on the date. Paybacks were definitely in order!
“I’m sorry to hear that,” she finally replied when she was sure she could say it with as little sarcasm as possible.
“Do you cook, Ari?”
“Um, well, I guess I cook. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that I cook well, but I know the basics,” she said with a chuckle.
His mouth didn’t turn up even the slightest.
“Don’t worry too much about it. There are classes you can take. Any woman can learn to cook well with enough training,” he said as he reached over and patted her hand.
Did he seriously just say and do that? She was ready to punch this man in the face.
“I wasn’t worried,” she said through gritted teeth.
“I know. I know. You can learn. So, you said you are teaching a class at a community college. That must be a nice pastime. Of course, when you have children, you will want to focus on them, right?”
“Pastime?” Ari said, her eyes rounding in anger. So far she’d put in six years of college, maintaining a perfect GPA, working hard, and achieving her dreams. She still had a doctorate to complete, and was working her tail end off on it. For him to call that a pastime completely infuriated her.
“Well, yes. I think it’s cute that you want to teach, but it’s not a real job. For women, work isn’t necessary, though. Your husband will take care of you.”
Dr. Lynn returned his attention to his plate, cutting a piece of salmon and taking a bite. She wanted to shove the fish down his throat — too bad there were no bones in it — then push him to the floor while she impaled him with her three-inch heels.
“Look —”
She was about to lay into him when his pager went off. Who the hell did this guy think he was? At first he’d just been boring; now he was downright insulting.
“Sorry. I need to return this call. You are never off work when you’re a doctor,” he said, his satisfied laugh slaughtering an already sad attempt at self-depreciation.
She wanted to yell at his back that he was a flipping foot doctor. The world wasn’t going to end if he took a night off. How she held her tongue, she would never know.