Page 12 of All's Fair in Love and Blood - A Romantic Comedy Novel

I gripped my white metal chair. “I think we’ll be safe t . . . tonight,” I stuttered, on the verge of hyperventilating.

“I hope you feel safe around me. Shall we eat?”

“Yes.”

“The food here is great, and I thought you would appreciate that there’s no roof. You can look up as high as you want to. Sky’s the limit.”

I was touched he remembered our conversation from the reception. I found, though, that I didn’t want to look up at all. I wanted to look straight across the table, into Kane’s eyes. They seemed to hold unknown possibilities. Possibilities, perhaps, that I never imagined within reach. Or was I reading them wrong? This was all so new to me.

“Thank you, Kane.”

“For what?”

“A different outlook.”

With that, we ordered gourmet cheeseburgers, and Kane insisted I try their frosé—a frozen cocktail made with pinot noir, strawberries, and lemons. I didn’t do a lot of alcohol, but he promised it was life changing. I had a feeling it was Kane who possibly held that power.

After dinner, and with only a minor incident of me dribbling spicy ketchup down my lip, we got to business.

“Did you still want to go over the quarterly report?” Kane asked.

“Yes,” I hesitated to say.

Kane tilted his head. “You don’t have me convinced.”

“It’s important I learn these things.”

“I’m happy to teach you what I know.”

I pulled out the file folder from my bag and laid it out on the table.

Kane took the file and pulled out a few pieces of paper. “Let’s start with the balance sheet.”

“Okay.”

“The balance sheet,” he began, “is sometimes referred to as the statement of financial position. It includes the company’s assets, liabilities, and net worth.”

Sounded straightforward enough. Maybe.

Kane went on in detail about every aspect of the report, stopping whenever I had a question. I had many. And he seemed to know all the answers.

“You love this stuff, don’t you?” I commented.

He flashed me a dazzling smile. “I guess it’s in my blood. My dad used to take me to work with him when I was a boy, to teach me the ropes. He was a VP for a manufacturing plant here in Atlanta until he died about ten years ago.”

I could hear the fondness he had for his father in his voice. I knew from listening to Eva that her first husband, Kane’s father, had died in a car accident.

“You must miss him.”

“All the time. He was great man. Always fair and a hard worker. He wanted me to be the same kind of man.”

“From what I can tell, you seem to be both.”

“I’d like to think so, but I’m more cutthroat than he was. I love the thrill of victory more than I should. He used to tell me that a good man knows when to lay it all on the line. A better man knows when to dial it back. I’m still learning that last part.”

I liked that. “Your father sounds like a good dad.” I was kind of jealous. Not that Auggie was a bad man, but I felt like I hardly knew him. He never gave me life advice like that . . . really any advice. For the most part, he had left me to my own devices. Thankfully, I’d had Naomi to go to for life’s burning questions.

Kane looked off into the distance. The sun was beginning to set and it was spectacular against the Atlanta skyline. The sky burned in oranges and pinks. It almost looked as if it was setting the city on fire.

“He was my hero,” Kane said more to himself.

“It must have been hard for you to see your mother remarry.”

His gaze drifted my way. “I like Augustus. He’s been a valuable mentor, a fair boss, and I would even consider him a friend; but . . . I’m not naive to his less than desirable track record when it comes to women. And although my mother isn’t the warmest of women, I don’t want to see her get hurt.”

I grabbed the napkin in my lap and wrung it tightly. “I’m afraid that’s inevitable. If it makes you feel any better, it won’t be because of infidelity. Unless you count work being his mistress.”

“Not really, but that’s not your fault.”

“I hope you won’t hate me when their marriage falls apart.”

“Scarlett, I don’t know you well yet, but I can’t imagine ever hating you.”

The way he’d said yet made me feel fuzzy all over, and I knew it wasn’t from the little alcohol I’d consumed. It gave me hope there would be future dinners and more time to get to know him.

“What about you?” he asked. “How do you feel about all your father’s marriages?”

I let out a deep breath. “I’ve become sort of numb to it all. Auggie’s never going to change, so there’s no use getting upset over it.”

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