Page 45 of His Sunshine Baby

Daniel nods.

“You’d better. I don’t want to see your heart broken twice, Elena. That’s the kind of pain you never recover from.”

“What about you?”

He hands me the glass with a sad expression.

“I don’t know. I’m supposed to be the reasonable one in this room, but I want to take this phone and beg him to see me again. I’m an idiot, babe, you know. I want to believe again, to think this is the one and try. I’m just afraid of being wrong one more time.”

I finish the rum in one go.

“Let’s go for it, babe. In another life, I’d be a virgin and you would be in the closet.”

“You mean we would be fifteen years old again.”

“Whatever. I know this is wrong, I know this might hurt, but you know what? I don’t even care. We can’t expect to die without any bruises, right?”

Chapter 7

I’m just five minutes late, yet I’m nervous as heck… Why did I agree to meet him in such a fancy place? This isn’t like me. I picked a brown dress that can probably get a pass everywhere as I didn’t know what to expect, but now I wonder if I should have picked something fancier. I walk-run into the establishment, hoping he’ll overlook my tardiness. Why am I this nervous? This isn’t even a real date. I quickly mumble something to the waitress about meeting someone there, give Nathaniel’s name, and she gives me a weird look, checking me out from head to toe… What the heck? It’s almost reluctantly that she takes me to his table… and then I realize why. He’s handsome and half the females around keep eye the very handsome guy alone at his table. They were probably all watching to see who he was waiting for. Well, I’m not sorry. I put on my sexiest smile, and gather my self-confidence to walk up to him, getting rid of that waitress with a wave of my hand.

“Nathaniel?”

He was on his phone, but I’m happy to see a relieved look on his face when he sees me.

“Sorry, a guy from my pack caught me near the border,” I explain briefly. “I had to go the long way around. Did you wait long?”

“Not at all, I just got here.”

Oh, thank Moon Goddess… I grab the seat next to him at the table before it gets awkward, and the waitress literally jumps across the room as Nathaniel asks for the menu. I’m going to need some drink to start off with… I glance at him over the menu. We don’t match; he’s wearing a fancy suit that fits this place a lot more. Shit, he noticed my gaze. Play it cool, Elena, at least act the part… Luckily, I’m saved by my cocktail that arrives, and we click glasses to get rid of that awkwardness.

“This one is yours too, I presume?” I glance around the restaurant.

“Yes. How did you know?”

Ah, it matches him perfectly…

“Well, all of the staff is giving you glances every five seconds, and not just the women.”

He chuckles; of course he knows he’s attractive, and probably used to getting this much attention too.

“First, thank you for coming,” he changes the topic. “I just want to discuss the arrangement with you and you’re free to go at the end of the dinner if you don’t like it.”

“Meaning I could also stay.”

“Well, I do own the hotel so…”

I don’t repress a chuckle. At least he’s honest…

“Alright, Mr. Black, let’s discuss then,” I put my glass down. “What are you expecting of me?”

He frowns and grabs his whiskey.

“Well, if we are going to discuss the possibility of a long-term relationship, Miss Whitewood, maybe we need to know each other a bit better?”

Know each other? This isn’t the direction I expected…

“You said long-term relationship, but isn’t it just physical? Why would you need to know me any further than that?”

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