Five Dates with the Billionaire - Alyssa J. Montgomery Page 0,19

her chest. It was so nice to be appreciated—especially by this dynamic man.

‘This promises to be a very enlightening evening,’ he held out his glass to hers when they were alone again and Mia accepted the toast.

She enjoyed the taste of the wine on her tongue and the slide of it down her throat. Maybe she was bolder on one sip of the alcohol or simply heady from his compliment because she couldn’t resist teasing, ‘Maybe I’ll have you so sold on the work we do, everyone in marketing will get a raise.’

‘Ah. Now I know your aim, I’m forewarned.’

‘Seriously, though, I do love my job.’

He twirled his wine glass around on the table, but his focus was on her face. ‘I know it’s crucial to our business, but I’ve never spent much time thinking about it.’

‘You don’t need to. You have a department working on it while you oversee the big picture—the development of the product. You steer the entire corporation.’

It wasn’t the first time she’d thought about how Connor needed to keep on top of the many interests under the Stewart Corporation conglomerate. He was a very powerful man and had even been on the cover of Time magazine.

Connor had expanded the Stewart business empire and was committed to innovation and making all aspects of the business as environmentally sustainable as possible. In his time as CEO, the corporation had gone from being listed as a Fortune 500 company to a Fortune 100 company and share prices had skyrocketed.

‘You have to keep your finger on all the interests of Stewart Corporation. You can’t get lost in the detail.’

‘The success of the company is only as good as all its key parts,’ he recognized.

‘And the soldiers are deployed on the orders of the general who has the overall battle plan.’

‘Do I hear a note of grudging respect?’ he teased.

Oh no. There could be no more teasing tonight. He was way too attractive wearing that expression on his face.

‘I admire the way you do your job, Connor.’

Of course, the way he did his job wasn’t the only thing she admired about him.

Her gaze was drawn to the strong column of this throat as he swallowed his wine then lowered to the exposed, tanned flesh at the vee of his white business shirt where he hadn’t bothered to wear a tie.

Please give me the strength to look away and don’t let me turn radish red right now.

Desperate to divert her thoughts, she blurted, ‘What’s your favourite position?’

Connor choked on his wine and she realised what she’d said.

‘Oh hell.’ Her face became as hot as a furnace as she conjured up all kinds of lurid images. ‘That came out so wrong. I mean what’s your favourite part about your position—you know, the thing you like most about being CEO?’

Oh, stop rambling, Mia!

Once he’d recovered from his coughing, he still failed to suppress his laughter. ‘I’ve been asked a lot of questions, but I don’t think I’ve ever been asked that one.’

‘Oh, stop it!’ she said staunchly. But it was either see the funny side or slide under the table so she laughed too. ‘I really didn’t—’

‘It’s okay.’ He put his hand up to stop her protest. ‘I know you didn’t.’ He laughed again. ‘I’ve done a lot of interviews, but no journalist has ever asked what I like best about what I do.’

Mia was genuinely interested in his response but was also employing a strategy she’d developed. She knew if she could get people talking about themselves then she didn’t have to talk about herself.

Connor proceeded to tell her about the many facets of his role and how he loved trouble-shooting and ensuring a satisfactory outcome for all parties. She was even more impressed when he outlined a few of the recent issues he’d handled.

Every second that whizzed by, her fascination with him grew. She was going to have to guard against going all moon-eyed.

Placing her cutlery on her empty plate, Mia couldn’t believe how many times she and Connor had laughed together and how easily the conversation had flowed. It was a dream date, although if she thought about how she’d like the evening to end, she was likely to blush vivid scarlet.

‘Do your family live in London?’ he asked.

Oops. The evening had been going well.

Why did he have to ask something personal?

Damn.

But wasn’t this normal conversation?

He wasn’t to know that any personal question would put her on the defensive because it would force her to lie. God knows she’d had