11. Lucy
Chapter 11
Lucy
“ Y ou made it in twenty minutes,” Dante said with a sexy little smirk as I trotted down the staircase. “Impressive.”
“You think so?” I asked the question as I walked through what he called the sitting room and into the kitchen to grab a bottle opener for the craft beers Toni had given me. I handed one to Dante with a wide smile.
“I do. I expected you to at least take longer than thirty minutes.” He chuckled and took a long pull from the beer bottle.
I shrugged and dropped down on the plush pale blue sofa. “No need to get all dolled up for anyone, especially when I’m perfectly adequate the way I am.” My lips tugged into a teasing smile when he froze.
Dante groaned and smacked a hand to cover his face. “I’m never going to live that down, am I?”
“Nope.” I made sure the last syllable popped loudly and gave him my sunniest smile. “Why should I let you?”
“Pity?” Before I could say anything more, the doorbell rang and announced a visitor. “That’ll be the food,” he said and got off the sofa with a grunt.
I got up from the sofa too and made my way to the kitchen to gather plates and silverware. It was just pizza, but I figured a guy like Dante wouldn’t eat it straight from the box.
A moment later Dante met me in the kitchen and nodded towards the French doors. “It’s nice out, you feel like eating out back?”
“Sure.” The weather was great this time of year and the evenings were mild, perfect for eating outside. I carried the plates and forks outside and set them carefully before I took my seat. “How much do I owe you for dinner?”
That question earned a scowl from Dante. “You think I’ll go broke feeding you?”
“No,” I rolled my eyes. “Of course not. But I can pay for my own meals since I’m off the clock.”
“I told you that you are allowed to eat whatever you want from the kitchen, on or off the clock.” His tone was one I was sure worked often on most people in his orbit, but I was a stubborn sort.
“Agreed, but this,” I motioned to the boxes on the table, “is not from the kitchen.”
He scowled in my direction, his dark glare aimed squarely at me. “Do you get some sort of life force from arguing with me?”
I laughed and shook my head. “Not at all, but like I said I am perfectly capable of paying my own way, and I don’t want you think I’m trying to take advantage of your generosity.” Dante’s gaze drilled into me, almost down to my soul and I let him look his fill before I dug into the pizza and chicken poppers.
“I appreciate that Lucy, more than you know. Honestly.” His gaze was genuine and sincere, and I had a feeling there were too many people in his life who used him for what he had, rather than what he was.
“So how much do I owe?”
He leaned forward with a sexy yet playful grin. “Consider tonight’s dinner on me. Can you do that?”
“I’m not sure…” I stammered out. “Why would you pay for my meal?”
“Because having companionship for dinner is worth more than the price of this meal, by a lot.” His words were plain and simple, but the sentiment beneath gave me pause.
“Are you lacking for companionship Dante?”
He nodded. “I have a few friends who don’t care who I am out in the world. But I don’t spend nearly enough time with them due to our busy schedules.”
I nodded as if I understood. “Other high powered, entitled dudes?”
He smirked. “Close enough. Though I think they would all bristle at the “entitled” label, as would I.”
I laughed. “Are we forgetting how we met?”
“No,” he growled. “But in my defense, the nanny had just quit and I was desperate to get home to Lena.”
“At the expense of all the other drivers on the road? That’s entitled. I’m not denying that I understand now, but it was also incredibly rude behavior.” I stabbed a spicy chicken bite and chewed with a smile while Dante continued to glare at me.
“I can’t win with you, can I?”
I shrugged. “There’s nothing to win, Dante. You should have been rushing home, but not at the expense of all the other drivers on the road. Your emergency wasn’t more important than what anyone else had to do, probably less so because someone you trusted was here, along with probably half a dozen other staff, so really Lena was fine.”
His nostrils flared and defiance darkened his gaze. I knew he wanted to argue with me, but he couldn’t without coming off as entitled as I’d accused him of being.
“You’re a tough cookie, Lucy.”
I shrugged. “You have to be when you grow up in the shadow of a beauty queen.”
“Mother?”
I nodded. “Decades ago, but she passed the torch on to my sister who is stunning, poised and well spoken, which I decidedly am not. I grew up with everyone comparing me to her, and I always fell short. I grew a tough, thick skin to most criticism.” Most people were as callous as they were clueless when it came to so-called well-meaning criticism. “By the time I was seventeen I learned to tune them out. And by the time I was twenty-three, I learned to love myself all over again.”
“That explains it,” he said ominously.
Immediately I was on edge, but I took a beat and then another to quell my apprehension before I spoke. “Explains what?”
“Your empathy, and I don’t know, the way you talk with Lena is amazing. You encourage her, but in a gentle way that gives her confidence, and then you praise her for what seems like just being herself. It’s impressive.”
I swallowed around a lump of coal in my throat. “Wow. Thanks, Dante. That means a lot.” Most parents considered me nothing more than a glorified babysitter that they paid a premium to, but his recognition of my skills really meant something to me. “You’re not just a pretty face.”
He laughed, the sound rich and deep, almost soothing. “You think I have a pretty face?”
I rolled my eyes. “I think you know how pretty you are, Mr. Rush.”
“Still,” he batted his eyelashes and preened. “A guy likes to hear it sometimes.”
That brief flash of humor was too much for my poor, neglected hormones to take, especially when I nursed an ill-advised crush on my too grumpy boss.