She shook her head. “Not for years. Not since I left home. They don’t approve of me.”
Good, the monster inside of him hollered. He didn’t want to share her with family. Alec forced that thought away. She was alone in the world when she should not be. Every young woman should have family to protect her.
“How could they not approve of you?” She was everything she should be.
“I left home to be a ballerina. That, to them, was akin to getting in bed with the devil. It was fine when I did it for activities at home. All the girls did. They didn’t even complain when I went to college on a dance scholarship. But, to actually try to do it—in New York, of all places? I went too far. They told me they’d never see me again. And they haven’t.”
Alec suddenly wished he could consume alcohol. It would be nice to take the edge off. Ballet. There it was. “But you did it, anyway.”
“I did.” She shrugged. “I’m not great at being what people expect me to be.”
The love of dance was the same, but there it ended. “Tell me more.”
Chapter Three
Alec seemed so genuinely interested in her, but Essence didn’t know where to look. His dark eyes bore into her as though he could see her very soul. Maybe he could. She didn’t know.
“Did you have a favorite ballet when you were in college?”
He was so handsome and not scary, not like the time before. It must have been the whole night that had thrown her off. The rain, the building he lived in. “Um, I like one called The Firebird.”
Alec dropped his fork. He hadn’t eaten much. She wondered if he didn’t like the food. Her dinner was absolutely the best she’d ever consumed anywhere. “You’ve heard of it?”
He cleared his throat. “Once or twice.”
“Do you dislike the ballet?” Her father and her brothers had been bored out of their minds.
“I don’t, actually. But I used to be happy to go with…a woman who was very important to me. She loved to watch the dancing, and I loved to watch her.”
Sadness enveloped her. Alec was a man who had known pain. It radiated off him as clearly as the flower delivery man had emitted the scent of smoke. She could practically taste it.
“What happened to her?” Even as she asked, she knew. No one spoke of a former love the way Alec did if the lover still lived. Ending a relationship simply didn’t give off the same utter sadness.
He shifted in his seat. “She died. A long time ago. I’m sorry to bring down the whole evening.”
“You didn’t. I’ve talked so much about me. Talk about you. Tell me your story.”
One side of his mouth rose in a smile. “I’m not very interesting.”
She pointed her spoon at him. “I don’t believe you.”
“I was born in eastern Europe. The town I was born in doesn’t really exist anymore. That’s a long story.” She could tell it was by the way he looked away for a second. She didn’t mind. Other people were entitled to their secrets. He didn’t have to reveal all in their first dinner.
Essence rubbed the back of her neck. Did that mean she thought there should be a second dinner? He was a very rich man who was being nice to her because she fell down his stairs.
Somehow, she had to find a way not to make too much of this. “What do you do in that big house by yourself all day?”
“I…I’m a late riser. I guess you could say my body rhythms are just made that way. Most of my activity is at night. I prefer to conduct business then. Lately, I’ve been reading.”
He’d said he was a later riser which seemed to make her yawn. Before she could stop herself, she did. Alec sat straight up. “I’m going to get the check. You need some rest.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. It’s nothing to do with you. The medicine I’m taking makes me a little loopy sometimes.”
He furrowed his brows. “You don’t need to explain.”
After he paid, they stepped out of the restaurant onto the street. She rocked back on her feet. This part of the evening was always a problem for her. She pointed to the left. “My subway is that way.”
Alec shook his head. “I have a car. I would like to take you home.”
“Oh, no. I wouldn’t want to put you out.”
He took her hand in his, smoothing his thumb over her fingers. “I have nothing but time this evening. I’ll see you to your door.”
“My father would have loved you if you’d been around when I was in high school. Most of the boys honked a horn, wouldn’t even come to the door. Okay, you take me home.”
She no sooner spoken than she wished she hadn’t. In general, she never discussed her family, but now she’d done so twice in one evening. Essence had known she would make them upset but she never, in a million years, believed they would have written her off the way they did.