a weed, emerging over and over, thriving when he thought he’d finally beaten it.
I should have told Elise who I am.
Maybe then she would have called.
The fact that he even wanted her to call was surprising. He’d been baffled by his own actions even as he had written down his phone number. How long had it been since he’d left his phone number for a woman after a night like that?
Years, probably.
He hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her. And that was also strange. Weeks had passed since the two of them had shared that night together in Rome. He should have put her out of his mind by now. And yet, still, he checked his phone for missed calls every day, hoping that she might finally decide to contact him.
She never did.
It was obvious that she wasn’t going to by now, and Lucas felt ridiculous for continuing to watch his phone. But he couldn’t help it. He couldn’t let go of the hope that maybe she would reach out to him after all.
He couldn’t stop thinking that maybe if she had known the truth about him—that he wasn’t a mere salesperson—perhaps she would have made a different decision.
But it’s good I didn’t tell her. He definitely didn’t want to be with any woman who would want him only because of the fact that he was a CEO.
Elise hadn’t seemed like a gold digger to him. She had been so awkward about allowing him to pay for dinner, as if she wasn’t used to being provided for.
But maybe I was wrong about her.
It didn’t matter now. He had to force himself to set thoughts of her aside. Whatever he had hoped for with her, it wasn’t going to happen. And that was probably for the best.
Tonight, he had other concerns.
He was going to have to cope with his father.
He hadn’t seen anyone in his family since returning from the Rome trip. Generally, he avoided them as much as possible. He did love them, but Lucas knew all too well that it was possible to love someone and still not want to spend any time around them.
He had spent all day today in meetings with his board of directors and the managers of his company, and more than anything he wanted to change out of his suit and kick back with a beer. But his father would expect him to be dressed nicely for tonight’s dinner. They would be eating at one of his father’s five-star hotels.
It’s not like they’d kick us out if we dressed for comfort, he thought wryly. Dad does own the place. But his father was determined that no one should ever see any member of the family dressed in less than their best. Everything he did was about making an impression.
A car had been sent to Lucas’s penthouse to collect him. The driver nodded but did not respond when Lucas tried to greet him. This was standard practice for his father’s drivers—they had been firmly instructed never to make conversation. But Lucas kept hoping that one day he would find one who was willing to make an exception.
So far, it hadn’t happened.
The car dropped him off outside the hotel. Lucas thanked the driver and hurried in to find his father already there, sitting at a table and waiting for him.
Lucas joined him. “Good evening, Father.”
“Save the chitchat until after we’ve ordered,” his father said. “The waiter will be back with our wine in just a moment. You should take this time to look at the menu.”
Nice to see you, too.
Lucas picked up the menu and pretended to study it, even though he had no need to. He had been eating at the hotel all his life, and the menu rarely changed. He knew what was available.
The server came to the table with a bottle of white wine—though Lucas would have preferred red—and two glasses. He poured out a little for Lucas’s father to taste. His father nodded, and the server filled both glasses. They gave their orders, and the man walked away.
“So,” his father said, “tell me all about your trip to Rome.”
Lucas raised his eyebrows. “You want to hear about my trip?”
“I want to hear about the conference, yes,” his father said. “The contacts you made. The networking you did.”
Of course. Lucas had learned to network at his father’s knee. It was the first thing he could remember his father drilling into him—the importance of being able to charm people. The importance of making