I looked at Natalie gaping at me.
I arched a brow. "Please don't tell me that this shocks you.”
“Do you own this too?”
"No, I don't —"
"But I wouldn't be here without you the Strong small business grants."
I didn't look at Natalie. For some reason I was feeling a little embarrassed at his gushing. I hoped he didn’t tell her that normally he was home this time of night, but that I’d paid him to open up this late for me and Natalie.
To make sure there was no further discussion, I ordered a taco and burrito.
"Coming right up. And for you señorita?"
“I'll have what he's having," she said, grinning up at me.
Once we got our food, we walked and found a place to sit to enjoy our meal. We sat on a park bench and Natalie tore into her taco taking a bite. She closed her eyes and made a mmm sound that made my dick thicken as it was similar to the sounds she made when we were in bed together.
"I'm having a moment," she said.
"I hope that means you're having a good evening," I said, hoping that it wasn't just good, but that it was something she'd always remember. It was those thoughts that often caused me to worry upon reflection. But tonight, I wasn't going to worry about it.
"This night has been marvelous. One of my best ever." She watched me for a moment, and I shifted slightly as I took a bite of my burrito in anticipation of what she was going to ask. The thing about Natalie was that I was never quite sure what was going to come out of her mouth or what she was going to do. It was part of her charm and at the same time, also always had me on edge. "How come you didn't tell me you own the gallery?"
I shrugged as I wiped my mouth with my napkin. "I don't know. Never came up I guess."
She leaned her forearms on the table. "Why do you keep your business ventures a secret?
“They're not a secret. I just don't talk about them a lot."
"Why? And what was that that Carlos was talking about? The business grants."
"I don't know why I don't talk about it. I guess it just never comes up. And the business grants are a way for the Strong family to support other small local businesses. That's it."
Her eyes were piercing as they stayed on me. "The Strong family or you?"
"I will answer that question, but then I want you to answer one for me," I said leaning my forearms on the table and trying to look intently at her as she was at me.
"You're on."
“The foundation was started by me, but the Strong family individually and as a company make contributions so that we can support other small businesses in the area and we've actually begun expanding out to other areas as well." I watched her for a moment to gauge her reaction. She seemed to accept that.
"Now your turn. If I hadn't shown up, would you have gone out with Gavin?"
She straightened and let out a loud laugh. “That's your question?"
Her laughing made me uncomfortable. Like it was a dumb question.
She shook her head. "No, I wouldn’t have gone out with Gavin. I wouldn’t go out with Gavin in any circumstance. Even if I didn't know you."
It was worth the embarrassment to hear that. I straightened "Good."
We finished our meal and then made our way back to the limo. This was the time where I'd either take her home, or to one of the hotels that we spent time in. For a moment I just let my driver take us away from the area towards her place as my insides twisted on what to do. Because tonight, I didn't want to take her to a hotel or to take her home.
"How would you feel about going to my loft?"
Her eyebrows arched up higher than I'd ever seen, but then quickly settled back into place, as if she was hiding her surprise.