6. The Fated Dinner Date

Cammy

“Wait, WHAT?!”

The same line has been repeating in my head since Elijah left my office four hours ago. Why is he interested in my company, and why did he need to invite me out to dinner to discuss it? I suppose that I should have asked him this when he was here, but at that moment, I was too dumbfounded to think clearly.

Cassy looks at me as if I have lost my mind, and clearly, I have. “I know, I don’t understand it, either,” I say, picking at my fingernail. “Bloody hell, I suppose this is good, then? If Elijah thinks our company is worth saving, then he must have a plan in place already, don’t you think?” She asks, leaning forward and lacing her fingers together. I shake my head. “I still don’t understand why he would be interested, seeing how we ended things last night.”

“Maybe he doesn’t care about last night and truly only cares about investing with us?” She says, sitting forward. “Think about it; Elijah may be a womanising playboy, but he’s good at what he does and a bloody shark in the business world. The man could just have blown his father’s inheritance or sold his stocks and lived off the billions. But he decided rather be the businessman Arthur Somersett used to be, if not a better one. If Elijah wants to invest in us, I say hear him out and see what he has to say.” She says, then gets up.

I groan at her words, knowing she is 100% correct in what she said. “I already said yes to dinner with him tonight. Let's see how it plays out.” I say and see another surprised raise of her eyebrow. “I didn’t think you gave him an answer seeing as you called me for advice!” She says, shaking her head. “Let me know how it goes and tell me everything he puts on the table. Review any paperwork before blindly signing,”

“Oi, is this your company or mine?” I say with a chuckle, and she puts her hands on her hips while scoffing and pointing a well-manicured finger at me. “I am only trying to be the voice of reason!” She exclaims with the roll of her eye, then walks towards the door with swaying hips. “Give him hell if you think he’s lowballing you!”

Now it was my turn to roll my eyes. “I am desperate, but not that desperate. I will use this opportunity to try and solidify whatever it is he is planning for us. I just hope he doesn’t expect me to swoon at his womanising feet.” I say, thinking back to his awful comments last night. Cassy crosses her arms. “If there is even a whiff of sexual favour in his deal, any at all, call me, and I will come to sort him out.”

With that, she disappears. I can’t help but laugh at her advice because she knows that I genuinely won’t need it. I have handled men like Elijah before, men even worse than him who thought they could ply me with sexual favours, and I am still here, aren’t I? I don’t know what Elijah has in store for me or how desperate he thinks I am. However, given the state of my company, I have to say that I am quite desperate, although not desperate enough to sleep with him or anything of the sort.

I breathe out a frustrated sigh, wondering how I am going to make it through all of this tomorrow. Hopefully, it won’t end in me throwing another glass of wine into Elijah’s face.

***

The bundle of nerves in my gut hasn’t eased up, and it is half-past six on the evening of my dinner date with Elijah. Why am I so nervous? The man is a chauvinistic pig, for Pete’s sake! I am used to going to dinner dates with potential clients, so why does the mere thought of being alone with him make my palms sweaty?

I am finally satisfied with my appearance by giving myself a once-over in the mirror. A knee-length wine red sheath dress with an off the shoulder neckline and black Louboutins to compliment the dress. I didn’t do much in terms of makeup, but I curled my hair and swooped it over one shoulder. Why did it feel like I was going all out, though?

I shake my head, then look at my cell phone - then my heart drops as I realise that I never did text him my address. Flip, I didn’t even have his number! Oh, God, what am I going to do? How can I have forgotten to get his number?! I unlock my cell phone, and just as I am about to search for his number, my phone rings. Jumping at the tone, I answer it way too quickly.

“I have been waiting for your text the entire day, Ms Westwood. I do hope our appointment for this evening has not slipped your mind?” The arrogant voice of Elijah Somersett came, and it immediately set me on edge. “I do apologise, Mr Somersett, but since you have my number, I assume you also managed to find my address?” I ask, clearly not impressed by his games, but all he does is chuckle. “Come to the door, little minx.”

I blink when he kills the call in my ear, then realise what he had just said. Breathing out a frustrated sigh, I grab my clutch and walk towards the door. Who should be standing there but the arrogant, cocky shit, Elijah Somersett?

He grins when he sees me and holds out his hand. “Exquisite, as usual,” he says, drawing my hand to his mouth and kissing the back. “Red always looks ravishing against alabaster skin, and you wear it well.” He says. I roll my eyes but can’t help the butterflies going crazy in my stomach. “Thank you, Mr Somersett; you are quite the charmer,” I say, noticing yet again that self-satisfying grin on his face. He shrugs, then reaches over to open the door for me. “What can I say? I would truly like a do-over from when we met, and I will do anything to get on your soft side,” he says.

I can’t help but laugh at this comment. “I do not have a soft side, but good luck trying to find it,” I say, getting into the car in an attempt to cut the conversation short, but Elijah had other things on his mind when he got in next to me. He turns my head to face him.

“Everyone has a soft side, little minx, and I will be the first one to discover yours.”

I must admit that his words rendered me speechless. How did this man have so much power over me when I usually step on businessmen like him? It must be because I need his help to save my company; it is the only thing that makes sense. I wouldn’t usually let a man like this take me to dinner, be it a business client or otherwise, because I know what they all want in the end.

Thankfully, I am not that type of woman.

The drive to wherever he was taking me took about fifteen minutes, and we were silent the entire time. Elijah sat back with all the confidence in the world while I was over here, contemplating whether or not to make a run for it now or later. This feeling intensifies when I see the place he’s taking me to.

The Dorchester; this man aims to please if he’s taking me to Alain Ducasse.

My questions are answered when he leads me inside, and we are taken to the shimmery curtain in the middle. Not only did he book us a table, but he booked the table: Lumiere.

Before we head inside, someone calls out Elijah’s name and the both of us turn to see who it is. I look up at him and frown when I see his expression soften at the sight of a beautiful blonde woman. He lets go of my hand and walks over to her, kissing both of her cheeks before chatting to her softly. Her eyes flicker to me, and she smiles when she leans into him and whispers in his ear. He chuckles, shakes his head, then kisses her hand and waves goodbye.

As I watch this entire exchange, I am reminded of the type of person Elijah Somersett is and tell myself not to be fooled by his charms.

“You have certainly gone all out this evening, Mr Somersett,” I say as he pulls out the chair for me when we walk inside the luminescent curtain. He chuckles and leans in close. “A woman like you only deserves the best,” he whispers in my ear before taking a seat opposite me.

How will I survive this evening with a womanising playboy as my date?