red wrap dress, now that he’d seen all the choices. He liked seeing her, but he definitely didn’t like other men watching her as she crossed the room.
Glancing around, he realized that other men were still glancing at her and he sighed inwardly, frustrated that he actually cared. It simply irritated him, that so many men were coveting what was his.
“Thank you,” she said and set her purse carefully on the floor beside her.
He slid her chair in for her, then moved around the table to take his own seat. “It was a nice surprise to hear from you this morning. And even nicer to hear you asking me out to lunch.”
Eva smiled stiffly and shook her head. “I don’t think you’ll like it once we start talking.”
“I’m sure we can work out whatever is on your mind.”
“Maybe,” she said and thanked the waiter who handed her the menu. She stalled by burying her face in the menu, trying to gather her thoughts and figure out how best to approach the subject she needed to discuss with him. She had to be careful, to make sure he understood her position and backed away from his demands. She couldn’t allow her father to know how she’d broken things off with Damon either, it all had to be very delicately done so no feelings were hurt. Damon was too powerful and, although her father had very powerful business connections as well, they were nothing compared to the strength and influence that Damon wielded in the business world. He could crush her father’s business without significant exertion.
Why she should care about her father’s businesses, she had no idea. There was just something about family that she had grown up respecting. Even if her family was completely dysfunctional with an absent father and an alcoholic mother, she felt a strong need to protect them.
After the waiter had taken their drink order, she took a deep breath and hid her hands under the table. She had no idea how Damon would take this conversation but she was nervous just bringing it up. She knew he wouldn’t be happy but she had to do something. “I wanted to discuss this wedding situation without all the emotion that has been present during our previous conversations.”
Damon didn’t like the way she was sitting across from him, looking like a prim, distraught woman. Her features were pale and he noticed dark circles under her eyes. “Are you backing away from our deal?” he asked carefully.
She worked those words through in her mind, wanting to answer him diplomatically. “I don’t want you to think I’m reneging,” she started to say.
“Good. Because I would consider that a serious breach of one’s trust. Specifically mine.”
“I don’t consider that the words spoken in the rush of anger would hold up in a court of law, Damon.”
The waiter came back with their drinks and she ordered a salad, not sure if she’d be able to eat anything, too nervous about what she was doing here and the intent look in Damon’s golden-brown eyes. She was starting to understand his moods based on the color of his eyes and this color wasn’t necessarily a good mood.
Damon’s lips compressed into a grim line, his mind already working on countering any argument she planned to present to him. There was no way he was going to allow her to back out of their deal. “At least you’re willing to admit that I can generate emotions in you.”
She laughed and shook her head. “You generate a great deal of emotion.”
“All negative?”
She bit her lower lip and considered her words, trying to keep the conversation positive so he didn’t become defensive. “A great deal of it is irrefutably confusing,” she said softly.
“So what are you asking of me now?”
Eva cleared her throat and took a sip of ice water. “I was hoping you could explain to me why you want to marry me.” She looked around, searching for the correct words. “I mean, you’ve mentioned that you hired an agency and selected me, you’ve callously explained that you need a hostess and a mother to your future children, but surely there was more. And maybe if I understood the rest, I could maybe feel more upbeat about this whole situation. Or maybe, even better, I could help you find someone that would suit your goals more effectively.” She sat across the table from him, her whole body tense and waiting for his reaction while he looked back at her