Page 52 of Seduced By a Billionaire

Catching her eye, he flashed a grin. She bit her bottom lip as her belly flip-flopped with excitement.

Andrea touched Ella’s arm grabbing her attention, “It’s so nice meeting you Ella. How long have you known Kyle?”

“Several months. I was his ICU nurse.”

Andrea glanced pointedly at Kyle, who was still watching Ella and said, “I think a certain someone is utterly captivated. I’ve never seen him so gaga.”

“Really? I’d have thought a bachelor in his position would be beating the beauties off with a club.”

“It’s a fact…but I’ve never seen him look at any of them the way he’s looking at you.”

Secretly thrilled, Ella played it cool, shrugging her shoulders she said, “New toy in the toybox.”

“I doubt it’s just that, but anyway, I’m certain I’ll see you around. We come here quite a bit.”

The men finished their discussion and Kyle appeared somewhat preoccupied as he led Ella back to the maître d’ who waited to seat them.

“Everything all right?” Ella asked.

“I’m sure it will be. Some disturbing things happening at the office. I’ll get to the bottom of them next week. Until then, I’m not wasting another second on anything but the sumptuous babe I’m lucky enough to have convinced to be my date.”

She rubbed her cheek against his shoulder and wove her fingers through his as they were led to their table. Large urns filled with fragrant flowers were scattered around along with hanging baskets of ferns. It was dusk and the tiki torches had already been lit, the white tablecloths adorned with fresh flowers and individual candles glowing within their hurricane lanterns. Kyle had reserved the table off by itself at the far end of the deck.

Ella inhaled the briny smell of the ocean air. The view of the marina was spectacular, the quiet occasionally ruffled by the low rumble of a yacht returning to dock, their colorful lights reflecting off the water. They could hear the piano chords drifting from the inside dining room. Perfect balmy weather, calm and pleasant. The night sky was clear and soon to be filled with twinkling stars. Ella sighed, enchanted with the restaurant, the marina, the ambience but mostly with the company.

After being seated and placing their drink and appetizer orders, Ella slipped off her shoes and hooked a foot around Kyle’s lower leg rubbing her toes against him. He inhaled sharply, eyes smoldering with desire. He reached across the table and took her hand in his, rubbing his thumb against the inside of her wrist. She couldn’t look away. Her pulse skittered as she unconsciously licked her lips.

“Oh baby, don’t look at me like that or we might not make it through dinner,” Kyle said softly.

“Kyle…”

“Ella…” He was interrupted by the waiter.

“Good evening Mr. Bennett, I’m sure the maître d’ told you about our specials this evening, do you have any questions about the menu?”

“No, I think we’re ready to order. Do you mind me ordering for you?” Kyle asked.

“No please do.”

“We’ll both have a cup of the she-crab soup, followed by catch of the day, flounder I believe, with the lobster risotto and asparagus.”

Taking their menus, the waiter said, “Very good sir,” and left them alone again.

“Talk to me. I feel like I know you and yet I don’t know that much about you. You mentioned being a foster kid, what was that like?” Kyle said.

“Pretty awful, until I ended up with the family that later adopted me.”

“So you lost your parents when you were four, just like Finn.”

“Yes, except they weren’t ill. They died in a plane crash.”

“Wow! Commercial or private?”

“Commercial. Coming back from a business trip. Mom happened to go along with my dad that time, and the plane went down in bad weather.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t imagine, that must have been really tough on a four-year-old child.”

“Yes, because there wasn’t any close family to take me in. I was staying with my mom’s second cousin while they traveled, she definitely couldn’t take me on, so I was put into the foster system almost immediately.”

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