He set his fork down, but said nothing.
“But I’m glad,” she continued. “Because that’s why I’m sitting here with you right now.” She worried that she may have gotten overly mushy, but his features softened and she relaxed a bit.
“I’m glad, too,” he said, reaching across the table to take her hand.
What would it be like if things were different? If they had met at another time when she wasn’t leaving in two weeks? He ran his thumb over her knuckles and her body grew warm. God, only last week it seemed like forever before she could shake off her old life. Now two weeks seemed like the blink of an eye.
She marveled again at her good luck. Who’d have ever thought a Claire-ism would result in a date with the hottest man she’d ever laid eyes on? Again, the situation struck her as odd. Why would a man like Will Anderson, who could have everything and anyone, be interested in her?
She pulled her hand from his and cut off a bit of fish with her fork. “So, you know the basics of my family. What about yours? I’ve met your brothers, but have never seen your parents.”
He took a bite of asparagus, followed by a sip of wine. “Mom and Dad retired almost three years ago, turning the business over to Michael, Chance, and me. They made it official right before my second deployment. I came back to find everything running smoothly at the office. Michael said we needed someone to up our security, and I was the perfect man for the job because of my recon experience in Afghanistan.”
“What exactly did you do over there?”
“My team analyzed insurgent strongholds and cities to determine the best strategies to take out targets.”
“Remotely?”
“Yes. By satellite and computer. And also on the ground.”
God. Did he infiltrate the bad guys’ lairs and stuff? “Like a spy, sort of.”
“Loosely.”
He turned his attention to his food. Subject closed. Okay. Well, at least she had a timeline now. He’d inherited his part of the company, only to leave for Afghanistan for the second time. When he returned, he put his soldier/spy training to use by setting up security for Anderson Auctions. That made sense.
“You said you work from your home, usually?”
He nodded. “There’s a lot of data to analyze for all the different properties and interests. Security managers send me information when necessary. I do background checks on businesses we deal with on large-scale transactions, in addition to monitoring on all sights. Dad had invested and dabbled in lots of different things, so I’ve been catching up on all of that. The auction house is simply the most lucrative and visible single endeavor of Anderson Enterprises. Since Michael has taken over, it has almost doubled its profits. Dad did it for fun. Michael does it to win.”
She’d only seen Michael Anderson a few times. She’d never actually met him, but he was almost as handsome as Will. Though slightly shorter, and not as broad in the shoulders, his eyes were more intense. Everything about him was intense. A kind of frenetic energy seemed to flow in his wake, and it was unnerving. “He strikes me as the kind of guy who does everything to win.”
He cut off another bite of his fish. “Everything but cheat. Michael has a rigid set of principles and rules. He never deviates.”
“Is he married?”
Will choked back a laugh, swallowed hard, and took a chug of his wine. He wiped his mouth with the linen napkin, still chuckling. “God, no. He probably never will. He dates a lot. I mean, a lot, but nothing serious. Nobody on earth will ever be able to live up to his expectations. Michael is a man whose life is calculated and organized to the minute detail. Even his sock drawer is organized in color order.”
She smiled. “Sounds like he needs someone to disrupt his order a little bit.”
“Well, let me get out of town before that happens.” He finished off the rest of his fish. “Now, Chance is another story.”
Claire leaned back in her chair, excited that he was warming up to talking about himself and his family. The candle had burned lower and the wavering light dancing across his skin made her want to run her hands all over him—well, even more than usual.
Nancy came in and cleared the plates while he continued. “Chance and I never really hung out because he was in high school when Michael and I were away at college. He made a couple of really close friends he still runs with today.” A wistful, faraway look crossed his features in the flickering light. “They were real practical jokers, but nobody ever got arrested, so there’s that. He got deep into martial arts about the time I thought he’d spin off. I think that made a difference.” His expression darkened, but he didn’t continue.
“What?”