Secret Date

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Natalie stared into the dark brown eyes of Galen Morgan and couldn’t stop. Sure, she’d always had a crush, but he’d been far out of her reach. His voice made her insides quiver, added to that sexy, hot and muscular body, well he fueled her dreams late at night. Now he was across the dinner table and her heart ached for his touch, his scent, his anything, as long as he stayed near.

She turned toward the candle which helped focus her mind and lowered her lashes. “Galen, thank you for helping with my mother’s medical bills.”

He sipped his wine and smiled like he’d just won his latest real estate deal. “I’m glad that you are allowing me to be of assistance.”

Her shoulders lifted with relief. Without worrying over the bills, she could focus on her dad’s mental health. As an only child, both parents were her responsibility now. “I can’t afford to say no, honestly. It’s generous.”

She clutched her gold cross and met his gaze. Galen Morgan was a decent and good human being underneath that sexy exterior. She’d known that for months, but it hit home now.

She brushed the back of his hand with her fingertip.

His face froze. She’d guess stricken was the right way to interpret his expression.

Would he take her hand? Realize that she wanted him to kiss her? She waited for his response. Finally he said, “Natalie, you’re my employee.”

Right, but the way her pulse zipped, there was no way she thought of him as her boss like she did at work. He’d always been this far away dream, but now candlelight sparkled in his dark hues. She ignored the rise of heat in her face. “Not right now. We’re off the clock.”

“I can’t forget the line.”

He’d invited her to dinner—she’d watched him bank his attraction to her. Her heart pounded in her chest. Maybe it was the wine or that he’d just been the most generous man she’d ever talked to, but her lips tingled as she confessed to the burning candle. “I’d like for our relationship to grow. You’re kinder than I expected and I know from this past year that I already get along with you.”

He scoffed and picked up a fork. “Kind is not a word used to describe me. My ex would probably say jerk as one of the nicer terms.”

No. She stilled, but he wasn’t a jerk. She saw him every day.

They ate their appetizer, a creamy bisque soup, but her hunger pains weren’t for the food they shared. Once the waiter brought their main dish—coq au vin, which was basically chicken and mushroom made in red wine—and left, Natalie asked the question that had bothered her for a year about her boss that she’d never dared ask. “When did you get married? I’ve always wondered how that ever fit into your busy schedule.”

He shrugged and rearranged the napkin on his lap. “I was twenty-one and thought I was in love with that redhead.”

Alison Evermore was a redhead then. After too much wine a few months ago, Natalie might have online stalked the woman touring Tibet on her social media and wondered if the mountain climber was the ex. Natalie picked up her fork to try the meat. “That’s awfully young, considering you finished college at twenty-two.” Her heart sped up and she hoped he didn’t catch her slip. She added quickly, “I read your resume.” Her leg trembled. She looked at her dinner and asked, “When did you get divorced?”

“When I was twenty-six.” He bit into a roasted carrot.

Right. She took a few deep breaths, picked up her fork but said in a quiet tone, “The same year you made your first billion-dollar building deal.”

He coughed and wiped his mouth before he nodded. “You have studied me.”

“Of course. I wanted to work for you last year and your resume is out there.” Natalie concentrated on finishing her dinner and once she’d had enough, she covered the rest with her napkin and picked up her wine. Hopefully he believed her interest had only been about business. She held his gaze. “But I could never figure out when you had time to get married and divorced. Why did you get married so young?”

He leaned forward like they were sharing a secret. “Because my father disapproved of Alison, or at least of me marrying someone with money and connection.”

“With money and connections? Not without?”

“I was born on the wrong side of the blanket. My mother wasn’t good enough to marry my dad so I wasn’t supposed to even look at certain women in society where their parents might mingle with the legitimate House of Morgan members.”

Wow. She’d heard rumors about the elder father in the House of Morgan, but she never paid it much attention. Natalie pressed her lips together. “And what would your father say about me?”

Galen gave a bitter laugh. “He’d have had your entire history on his desk before he made that call.”

“We were never rich. My parents are still married, own a house together and raised me. I don’t think we have many connections.”

“Without money and connections, he might have approved of you for me. When I was twenty, that alone would have sent me running in the other direction.”

Not much to see. Natalie was the only daughter of working-class parents. Her father owned a grocery store. Her mother was a police officer. She’d gone to college and studied business, but had no real ambitions beyond that and then her mom became sick. She could sum up her entire life just that fast. However, none of that was newsworthy.

“What about you?”

My parents would respect my date choice, though honestly they were never that warm to many of them.”

He refilled their glasses from the bottle on the table. “So you brought guys home unworthy of you.”

Three in total, unless her prom date counted, but he’d just been a friend. Sam, the musician, sprang to mind as the biggest wrong she’d liked, but she said, “They were all interesting in their own way.”

He handed her glass back to her. “Interesting doesn’t mean worthy.”

His fingers around the stem of her glass had her crossing her legs. It wasn’t fair to have a crush, be outed as herself and not live out the rest of her fantasy as Galen’s lover. She stared into the wine and asked, “Galen, if we didn’t know each other from work, would we even be here now?”

He scooted near her while the table was cleared. Once they were alone, he asked, “How would we have met then?”

Fantasy time. If she could meet Galen outside of work, where would she choose? Her mind went blank and she couldn’t come up with anything besides the office—or the clinic, which didn’t lead to fantasies. She moved closer to him and this time sensed his body heat which skyrocketed her own temperature. “I don’t know. Perhaps here, at this restaurant.”

Galen reached out and rested his arms beside her as his smoldering gaze melted any defenses she might have near him. “If I saw you tonight for the first time, I’d have gotten over my “no good girl” rule and talked to you.”

Her ears buzzed as her lips ached for him, though she knew they were an impossibility. She stared at his mouth and wished for things to be different. “Wait. No good girl rule? What’s that?”

His lip curled into a dimple. She’d never seen that before and was instantly mesmerized. “After my marriage ended, I wanted nothing to do with any girl that wanted to change me.”

Change. Right. She sipped her wine and told him the one thing that always irked her about him. “Well, if I had to change anything about you, I’d make you lose the cigarettes. They’re bad for you.”

He motioned his hand back and forth “I had one this morning, but I’m trying to quit. I picked up the habit in Paris as a boy.”

“Good.” She tried to remember why they were here in this romantic corner. Work, right? Her mind warned that he hadn’t quite told her whatever he’d been thinking, had he, but she didn’t want to dwell on it. Instead she let the warmth stay in her veins as she asked, “Paris must have been so different. Do you like living in Miami these days?”

He brushed his fingers against hers and slowly took her hand to hold. “I like having my family close by.”

The warm buzz of desire became a strong vibration inside her heart. The House of Morgan sounded more like aristocracy than a family, but she kept that to herself. She’d not ask. “Other than family?”

He lifted their hands and he studied where their palms connected. “I miss small things from different places, but the palm trees are nice.”

Whatever coursed through her right now felt alien. She had never been this turned on from a simple touch. She tried to sound normal despite how much she trembled inside. “I’ve never left Florida, unless you count the world showcase up in Orlando.”

His brow wrinkled as he came closer. “Not the same thing. Do you want to travel?”

Travel. With him. Yes, but she lowered her lashes and stared at him, wishing for far more than she’d even dreamed. “Later. Right now, my mom needs me and I don’t know how my dad will function if something actually happens to her.”

His lips brushed her hand and a jolt rushed through her, causing even more wishes. “That’s hard.”

Oh goodness, she wanted him. She always had, but he was so close right now. She licked her lips. “It is.” She cleared her throat, preferring the fantasy. “Tonight, we’re on a date, so you never know what might happen.”

His eyes widened a little. “This is a date to you?”

Everything about Galen Morgan was sexy and forbidden and desired. His simple sandalwood soap made her weak. “Was it not supposed to be?”

Galen kissed the back of her hand. “I’m not sure what this was, other than I needed to talk to the prettiest girl in the office.”

Whatever the rationale was didn’t matter. Nothing else mattered except them. She pressed herself closer. “Well there’s not a lot of competition.”

“I’d like to kiss you.” Galen leaned down and stared at her.

“Are you asking permission?” Yes. Now. Her eyes fluttered, and she parted her lips.

He came closer and their lips were millimeters apart. “You are free to tell me to get lost. It won’t affect anything.”

Unlikely, but she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “I want you to kiss me Galen. I’d like it very much.”

Finally, he claimed her lips as his own and the fire inside her flamed. Galen was everything she ever wanted and so much more. He tasted better than any dessert and the best part of the night was that he was finally all hers, even if only for this second.