Chapter 1
Another pause.
Dominic Vale, a man who could negotiate multimillion-dollar acquisitions without blinking, seemed to be searching for words.
“Yes.”
Claire waited.
“You embarrassed me.”
She leaned back.
“By correcting you?”
“In front of my executives.”
“Would you have preferred being wrong privately?”
Silence.
Then something happened that she never expected.
Dominic laughed.
Not loudly.
Not for long.
But he laughed.
“You’re rather difficult, Miss Morgan.”
“My mother says the same thing.”
“Does she?”
“Usually when I point out that she’s wrong.”
“I imagine that happens frequently.”
“You’d be surprised.”
He paused.
“Have dinner with me.”
Claire stared at the phone.
“I’m sorry?”
“Dinner. Thursday evening. There’s a restaurant in River North. Excellent chef. Private dining room.”
“No, thank you.”
Another silence.
This one was considerably longer.
“Is Thursday inconvenient?”
“Thursday is fine.”
“Then Thursday.”
“Mr. Vale, Thursday is fine. Dinner with you is not.”
“I see.”
She wasn’t convinced he did.
“Have a good afternoon.”
Claire hung up before he could respond.
Across town, in a private office overlooking the Chicago River, Dominic Vale stared at his phone.
His longtime chief of staff, Daniel Mercer, noticed.
“Problem?”
Dominic slowly lowered the receiver.
“She said no.”
Daniel blinked.
“To what?”
“Dinner.”
Daniel’s expression went carefully blank.
“Perhaps she has plans.”
“She said Thursday was fine.”
“Then perhaps the answer wasn’t about Thursday.”
Dominic looked at him.
Daniel decided his paperwork suddenly required urgent attention.
The following Monday, Dominic appeared beside Claire’s desk.
Without security.
Without an entourage.
That alone caused three employees to stop typing.
“Miss Morgan.”
“Mr. Vale.”
“I’ve reconsidered my invitation.”
“Congratulations.”
He ignored the remark.
“The original restaurant may have been too formal. I know a quieter place.”
“No.”
“A chef who specializes in regional Italian cuisine.”
“No.”
“I could arrange something elsewhere.”
Claire put down her pen.
“Are you trying to ask me out or acquire my evening?”
Dominic frowned.
“There’s a difference?”
“An enormous one.”
“I’m offering you an enjoyable experience.”
“You’re offering me proof that you can make expensive things happen.”
His expression tightened slightly.
“Would you prefer something less expensive?”
“I’d prefer you understand why I keep saying no.”
He studied her.
“Then explain.”
Claire almost laughed.
There was that word again.
“You don’t know anything about me.”
“I know you’re intelligent, honest, and unusually willing to challenge authority.”
“Those are observations. You don’t know what makes me laugh. You don’t know what I do on weekends. You don’t even know how I take my coffee.”