Chloe barely got her mouth open before Grandmillie stopped her again. “If you don’t, I will put myself on the waiting list for Crestmont Village today.”
Crestmont Village was the three-stage elder-care facility Grandmillie had nearly moved into four years ago before Chloe convinced her they could rent their little house together. After Chloe’s mother died, Grandmillie had become a strong maternal presence, so she and Chloe were unusually close.
However, her grandmother had been adamant that she didn’t want to be a burden on Chloe and had made a list of the conditions required for her to live there. Since her grandmother was a fiercely independent woman, Chloe had respected and lived by all of them.
In the last year or so, though, Grandmillie had begun to walk more slowly and put more weight on her cane, so Chloe worried about her falling. Maybe it was time to talk about getting someone to stay with her while Chloe was at work. The problem was paying for it.
Chloe frowned as she turned over her options in her mind.
“Well, are you going to call him?”
“Call him?” She’d forgotten what had started her train of thought. “Oh, you mean Nathan, er, Mr. Trainor. He’s probably already found another date.”
“His chauffeur just delivered custom-made chocolate. He’s thinking about you, not some other woman. Call him.”
“Um, okay.” She pulled her cell phone out of her purse, giving in easily because she wanted to see him again so badly.
“Go in your room and close the door so you can be private,” Grandmillie said with a smile.
Chloe hated to do it, but she retreated to her bedroom and pulled the door shut. She didn’t know what Nathan might say, and she didn’t want to have to choose her words with two different listeners in mind.
As she scrolled to Nathan’s number, she wondered where he was at eleven o’clock on Saturday morning. Maybe he’d taken his doctor’s advice and stayed home another day since it was the weekend. She shook her head at herself. Not a chance of that.
She took a deep breath as she hit “Dial” and held the phone to her ear.
“Chloe! Just a minute,” Nathan answered. He sounded distracted, which she found disconcerting. She’d hoped he would sound pleased to hear from her.
“Did I catch you at a bad time? I’ll call you back later,” she said.
“No.” It was a sharp command. “I’m in the lab, so I need to move to a quieter place.”
She could hear voices and a low hum in the background. “What lab?”
“The R and D lab.” The other voices had faded, and his held a wry note.
Chloe did a silent fist pump. “Checking on their progress?”
“Helping them make progress. Don’t say it.”
Since she’d just been wondering how to broach the subject of dinner that night, she was taken aback. “What shouldn’t I say?”
“The normal but annoying response would be ‘I told you so.’?”
Relief made Chloe smile into the phone. “I try not to be annoying. I guess I don’t always succeed.” Nathan’s deep chuckle made her knees go rubbery, so she sat down on the bed. “Anyway, that wasn’t even close to what I was going to say.”
“You have my full attention.”
“My, um, responsibilities have changed, so I’m free for dinner tonight if you’re still interested. And you’re not already committed to something else.” Chloe closed her eyes with a grimace as she contemplated her lack of finesse.
A long silence made her wish she’d just told Grandmillie that Nathan was busy.
“What is your favorite food?” Nathan asked.
“Chocolate,” she said, realizing she hadn’t thanked him. “Beautifully painted chocolate.”
“That’s dessert, and I have a new favorite in that category.”
“Er, really?”
“You.” His voice was a low vibration of pure desire. It knocked the breath out of her. “I need a main dish so I can decide where to take you for dinner.”
“Lobster,” she managed to croak. “I love it.”
“I’ll pick you up at five.”
“No, I’ll meet you there. Wherever there is.” She wasn’t ready to allow Nathan into her private space yet.
She could almost feel his displeasure through the phone.
“I’ll respect your feelings for now,” he finally said. “But Oskar will come in my place.”
“All right.” Somehow he’d made her feel guilty, as though she’d hurt him. “What should I wear?”
“I’d prefer nothing, but that would shock Oskar.”
Another breath-stealing statement that proved he wasn’t so upset that he wouldn’t flirt with her. “Not to mention our fellow diners,” Chloe said, her mind spinning with the image of sitting naked across an elegant dinner table from Nathan. It made her insides turn hot and liquid.
“The male diners would count themselves fortunate. And maybe a few of the female diners as well.”
Chloe sputtered out a half laugh. “Seriously, what level of formality am I aiming for?”