Sensing her mood had shifted once more, he decided to retreat for now. But he wasn’t surrendering. He wasn’t done with Miss Diamante. Not by a long shot. Though he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with her. “Okay, if you’re sure.” He attempted to make it teasing, to lighten the mood. He had been so very affected by her proximity. “I’ll leave you be. For now.” He couldn’t help adding that last part. Her brown eyes snapped to his, widening once more at his choice of words. Her tongue darted out to lick her lips. And he couldn’t stop himself if he tried. “I meant that. For now.” He cocked his head to the side and gave her his most wicked grin. “I’d like to take you out for a drink,” he offered stepping back to watch her reaction to this offer. To watch her body language.
Woah, this man, didn’t let up. He was full of surprises tonight. She stumbled for the words. “I, um,” she turned on a faucet to stall, and let her knuckle where she had nicked it be soothed by the water and to clean out the cut. Had he just asked her out? “I’m pretty, um,” she’d been about to say busy, but he interrupted her.
“Yes, yes you are. That’s why I asked you out.” He was grinning like a school boy. Really putting on the charm, and she found herself smiling back. It was infectious.
She felt the blush rise in her cheeks. Oh God, the two girls cleaning counters across from her were giving her thumbs up signs and winking. She wanted to crawl under her butcher block. “Um, well yeah. Um, that might be nice. But I’m pretty busy too.” She managed to squeak out the words trying to push back her initial reaction to jump at the opportunity. It had been forever since she had gone out with a guy even if it was just for drinks. Over two years, in fact.
“Okay, well I’ll call you then,” he gave her one more winning smile and nodded over at the binder she had indicated earlier. And with a little wave, he crossed the room to check out those kitchen losses leaving her speechless. Completely and utterly speechless.
*
Yes, he would call her, Joseph thought very pleased with himself for how the conversation had ended. She was a tempting little thing. All angry and tough one second, but then soft and shy the next. He definitely wanted to get to know Miss Jewel Diamante a little bit better. The name suited her. She was a Jewel. A diamond. Plus, her reactions to him had been all over the place, and he wanted to find out why.
Focusing on the entries before him, he saw that everything seemed to be recorded properly. Checking the dates, he saw Louis’ notation for the night of the engagement party. Three crates sent to the food bank. He felt a bit of relief to know that she hadn’t lied about that.
As he crossed his way through the kitchen on his way out, he looked one more time in the direction of Jewel’s station, and was a little disappointed when he didn’t see her standing there. But, he’d call. And he’d definitely be seeing her again.
“Excuse me,” a voice to his right called interrupting his thoughts. He glanced to the two women piling dishes into a large industrial sized dish washer. They had paused in their work, and were beckoning him over.
He walked their way. “Yes,” he looked over the two girls, both appeared to be in their early twenties. Both pretty.
“Um,” the braver of the two started. “We, um, just wanted to let you know that we love your sister’s night club, Light It Up. The DJ is awesome. She is doing a great job. It’s so much fun. We are so looking forward to her opening of Spirits in the Sky.” His sister, Eve, was in charge of the entertainment at The Mystic, and the girls were talking about the new club that would open in about four months. They had one other club as well, The Rainmaker, inside the massive casino, as well as a sports bar, and one quieter wine bar.
“I’ll let her know,” he smiled at the two young girls and wondered if it was their attempt at flirting. It happened to him often, and he took advantage of it at times. Especially when two girls approached him at once. As long as they understood that he wasn’t in it for the long term, he was always open to a night of fun.
When it looked like that was all they were going to say, he began to walk away towards the exit into the restaurant. “And we are going dancing tonight at Light it Up, with Jewel,” they added conspiratorially. Both were laughing when he stopped dead in his tracks. He turned. His megawatt smile was genuine.
“Thank you, um, what were your names?” He winked at the pair appreciative of their help in making his desire to get to know Jewel better a tad easier.
“I’m Linda, and this is Dinah. We are friends of Jewels.”
“Very good friends,” he gave them a genuine smile. They giggled like school girls. “Thank you for the information. I may see you later then. I suddenly feel like dancing.” He began to whistle as he walked away. The shy Jewel, with the midnight dark eyes, as busy as she might be, was going out tonight, letting her hair down, and now he planned on joining her thanks to her two friends. In more ways than one.
Chapter 4
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Just as he was about to call it quits for the day, and head to his suite at the hotel for a quick shower and then a late dinner with his sisters, he heard his brother and mother talking from inside her office.