‘Of course,’ I smile as he shifts in his chair.
‘Mario, the head barman at The Manor, insisted I try it, so I did. Luigi’s his brother.’
‘Luigi and Mario?’ I snort, rather rudely. Jesse raises his eyebrows at me. ‘I’m sorry, that’s really tickled me!’
‘I can see that.’ He frowns as Luigi returns with the drinks. Jesse pours me some wine and himself some water.
‘You didn’t get a whole bottle for me?’ I blurt. ‘Are you not having any?’ Christ, I’ll be on my back.
‘No, I’m driving.’
‘And I’m allowed?’
His lips press into a straight line, but I can see he’s trying to suppress a smile at my cheekiness. ‘You may.’
I grin, picking up my glass and sipping carefully as he watches me. It’s lovely.
As I look over the table at the beautiful, neurotic man, who has fucked my plans right up, my brain is suddenly bombarded with questions.
‘I want to know how old you are.’ I state confidently. This whole age thing is really quite stupid.
He circles the rim of his glass with the tip of his finger as he watches me. ‘Twenty eight. Tell me about your family.’
Huh? Oh, no, no, no! ‘I asked first.’
‘And I answered. Tell me about your family.’
I shake my head in despair and resign myself to the fact that I’m in love with a man of an age I don’t know and, quite possibly, never will do.
‘They retired to Newquay a few years back,’ I sigh, ‘Dad ran a construction firm, Mum was a house wife. My Dad had a heart attack scare so they took early retirement to Cornwall. My brother is living the dream in Australia.’ That’s pretty much it in a nutshell. ‘Why do you not speak to your parents?’ I ask. I know I’m on dodgy ground here, especially after his last response to that very question.
I watch carefully, almost apprehensively, for his reaction. I’m more than shocked when he takes a sip of water, then launches into his answer. ‘They live in Marbella. My sister’s there too. I’ve not spoken to them for years. They didn’t approve when Carmichael left me The Manor and all of his estate.’
Oh? ‘He left it all to you?’ I can see why that might cause a family feud, especially if there’s a sister in the picture.
‘He did. We were close, and he didn’t talk to my parents. They didn’t approve.’
‘They didn’t approve of your relationship?’
‘No, they didn’t.’ He starts chewing his lip.
‘What was not to approve of?’ I’m completely intrigued now.
He sighs. ‘As soon as I left college, I spent all of my time with Carmichael. Mum, Dad and Amalie moved to Spain, and I refused to go. I was eighteen and having the time of my life. I stayed with Carmichael when they left. They weren’t happy about it.’ He shrugs. ‘Three years later, Carmichael died and I was left to run The Manor.’ He tells the story with no emotion. He takes another swig of water. ‘The relationship was strained after that. They demanded I sell The Manor but I couldn’t. It was Carmichael’s baby.’
Christ. I’ve found out more about this man in five minutes than I have since I’ve known him. Why is he so talkative tonight? I decide to take advantage – I don’t know when I’ll get another chance.
‘What do you do for fun?’
His green eyes flash black and he grins wickedly. ‘Fuck you.’
My eyes widen at his crass answer, and I cave on the inside. He sees me as his current fun? Now I just feel shitty. I shift in my seat and break the eye connection, taking a sip of wine. I hate this regular plummeting feeling that I’m getting of late. I’m on Central Jesse Cloud Nine one moment, then one comment brings me crashing down to reality. I can’t cope with all these mixed signals.
‘You like power in the bedroom.’ I state without a trace of a blush. I’m proud of myself. His skill and influence on my entire being has me nervous.