"War wound," he said, following my gaze. "Took a shot clean through the knee. Shattered part of the kneecap."
"That's horrible."
He shrugged. "Maybe. I've always thought it rather Lucky myself. A foot higher and I wouldn't be here at all."
I nodded, unsure how to reply.
"Joe's been with me nearly ten years," Sebastian said.
"Has it really been that long, sir? The time has simply flown by." The older man's voice was heavy with sarcasm, but Sebastian merely grinned. Clearly there was more than professional courtesy between the two of them.
"Come on, we'll be late," Sebastian said, guiding me to the open door and ushering me through with a gentle push to the small of my back. Even that somehow felt like an incredibly sensual gesture.
"So where are we headed?" I asked, as the limo pulled out into the street.
"Well, I was lucky enough to get last minute reservations at Quay."
My eyes widened. I wasn't much for fine dining, but I knew enough to know that Quay was as fancy as they came. Now I definitely was under-dressed. "Isn't the waiting list like a month long there?"
He shrugged. "They had a cancellation."
It seemed a little unbelievable, but I didn't push. "So, how you feeling?" I asked instead. "You nervous at all?"
His lips quirked upward. "And why would I be nervous?"
"Well I imagine this is your first date in a while. You know, being the non-dating sort and all."
"Possibly."
"So I thought you might be a little worried. It's okay, it's perfectly natural. Just be yourself, I'm not going to judge."
He looked at me for several seconds then shook his head ruefully. "You're not planning on making this easy are you?"
"I don't know what you mean." I tried to keep my face straight, but a hint of a smile crept through anyway. After feeling constantly off balance with him, it was nice to put him on the back foot for once.
We sat for a few minutes just looking out the window. He'd seemed upbeat initially, but in the silence that followed, that all leeched away. The longer we sat, the darker his expression grew.
"A penny for your thoughts?" I said eventually.
He blinked several times. "Sorry. I didn't mean to be rude. I've just got a lot on my mind."
"Trouble in venture capital paradise?"
He grimaced. "It's not a big deal. One of our projects has just had some setbacks recently. It's frustrating, that's all."
"What kind of project?"
He smiled apologetically. "I'm not really at liberty to talk about it. It's company policy not to discuss our work with other people. We deal with some sensitive stuff from time to time."
Yeah, like US Government documents. I'd been debating whether to raise any of the questions that had been running through my mind. Obviously he had secrets, and that was fine. Casual meant not having to share much of yourself if you didn't want to. But I couldn't resist trying to fish for a little more information.
"Well, whatever you guys do, you throw a mean party, I'll say that much."
"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. Honestly those don't happen that often. A few times a year when we want to entertain prospective clients. You got lucky enough to stumble in at just the right time."
"I guess I did. Truth be told, I couldn't really believe it. It was kind of surreal, finding that sort of party behind a shitty bar like that."
He nodded. "Yeah, we get that a lot. We've actually owned that building for nearly a century. It's where the company started. As we expanded, we decided to upgrade it and turn it into a space for entertaining. There's still a few of the old offices left, one of which I believe you are somewhat acquainted with."
My cheeks heated. I wondered if I'd ever live that down.
"So why keep the bar at the front?" I asked. "Why not knock it down and build something nicer? You can obviously afford to."
He shrugged. "Call it sentimentality I guess. That bar's been there since the building was built. It's nice to keep a small piece of the old place around."
There was nothing in his voice to hint at any deception. Perhaps there really was nothing more to it. It was certainly the simplest explanation. Of course there were still the things the girl had told me that morning, and the papers on his desk, but were they really as odd as they seemed? It was hardly strange to want a little privacy, and I hadn't really had more than a few furtive seconds with that document. It was verging on paranoid to make any assumptions based on that. I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.
A minute later, we arrived at the restaurant. It was a glorious sight. The whole building was a giant glass cylinder, offering a full panoramic view of Circular Quay. A suited maître d' led us to a table on the upper floor, which was right next to the window facing out across the water to the Opera House. The sun had just finished setting and the whole bay was bathed in the soft glow of the city lights from the south. It was a spectacular location.
The two chairs at the table were opposite one another, but after helping me into my seat, he took his and lifted it around, sitting right next to me, his leg brushing softly against mine. My heart quickened. In the blink of an eye, he'd made the whole meal feel much more intimate.
"I can't imagine why anyone would cancel on this," I said, watching as one of the night ferries pulled out of the dock, sending great ripples rolling through the harbour. "It's beautiful."
"I like everything about this place," he said. "I try to come as often as possible. The only thing better than the food is the view." He gave me an exaggerated look up and down. "And I must say, the view is looking particularly spectacular tonight."
I grinned and returned the leer. "It's not so bad from over here either."
Our menus arrived. If it wasn't already obvious, the service quickly made it clear that this wasn't just any lazy Sunday meal. Our waitress was polite, articulate and immaculately groomed. She knew the menu back to front and answered every question Sebastian asked, quickly and in great detail. While they spoke, a second waiter arrived, filling our water glasses and leaving a small basket of steaming bread for us to nibble on.
Sebastian wanted to order the nine course tasting menu, but I'd had bad experiences with that sort of food in the past. "It always seems a little too pretentious for its own good," I told him.