He stopped and looked up to find Abby watching him with a smile that made his heart skip a beat. ‘What?’ he asked, frowning because since when had a smile ever done that?
‘You love your job, don’t you?’
‘It’s all consuming, stressful and frequently involves having to make near impossible deadlines so I couldn’t do it to the extent I do if I didn’t.’
‘I suppose not.’
‘Working with Jake helps.’
‘You’re very different.’
‘That’s probably why we work so well together.’
‘So how did you get started?’ she asked, once the waiter who’d materialised at their table had taken their order of scallops for Leo, smoked salmon for her and rare chateaubriand to follow, and then slipped away.
He shrugged and gave her the answer he gave most people. ‘We were just two kids who happened to be in the right place at the right time and got lucky.’
Abby took a sip of her tequila and arched a sceptical eyebrow. ‘Just like that?’
Remembering his decision to contribute to the conversation, Leo shot her a faint smile and said, ‘No, not just like that, actually. I was just about to finish university and Jake was a couple of years off graduating when my mother gave us an inheritance she’d received so that we could buy our first flat. We did it up, sold it, bought two more with the proceeds. From there we kept multiplying and growing and then moving into developments overseas until we got where we are now. Jake has an excellent eye for detail and I have an affinity for numbers and it’s a combination that seems to work.’ He shifted in his seat and his smile turned wry. ‘That’s not to say we haven’t had setbacks, especially in the beginning, and the state of the economy doesn’t always coincide with our plans, but we’re doing OK.’
Abby grinned and glanced round at the expensive décor and the stunning views pointedly. ‘More than OK, I’d say.’
‘You’re right. More than OK.’
The waiter appeared, produced a half-bottle of fino with a flourish and proceeded to fill first Abby’s glass and then his.
Abby took a sip and hmmed in appreciation. ‘This is nice,’ she said, putting down her glass and twirling it by the stem. ‘Unusual, but nice.’
Leo glanced down at her fingers and had an instant searing memory of those same fingers wrapped around a certain part of his anatomy. ‘That’s why I chose it,’ he said a bit gruffly.
‘So tell me about your parents.’
Leo cleared his throat and swiftly steered his mind back on track. ‘Don’t you know everything there is to know already? I thought Elsa Brightman was a mine of information.’
‘She was,’ Abby said with a nod, and he wondered with a brief stab of concern exactly how much information Elsa had revealed. ‘But I’d like a son’s perspective.’
‘There’s not a lot to say. They’re just like most middle-class parents, I should think. Loyal. Unconditionally supportive. Totally non-judgmental when it comes to me and Jake. And while they’ve always wanted the best for us I think they’re pretty bemused by what we’ve achieved. They’re also immensely proud and refuse to take a penny from us, so with the party thing it feels good to be able to do something for them for a change.’
‘I can imagine.’
‘What about yours?’
‘More or less the same. Bar the bemusement.’
‘Do you have siblings?’
She nodded. ‘Two older brothers. Charlie’s a civil engineer and Steve’s an oncologist.’
‘And how did you get into event management?’
‘By accident I suppose. I was all set to go to university to study politics, philosophy and economics, but during my year off I got a job with a catering company to earn some money.’ She shrugged and smiled wistfully. ‘And that was it really. I was hooked. Not on the catering, but on the whole events thing. I’ve always been pathologically organised and a bit of a perfectionist and my best friend, Gemma, who I worked with at the time in the catering company, suggested I go for it. I tossed up the pros and cons for a while, then jacked in uni and did an NVQ in event management instead.’
‘What did your family think?’
Abby frowned and bit her lip for a second. ‘Good question,’ she said eventually. ‘Outwardly they were fine with it. Just said I should do what I felt was right and that they’d be behind me whatever I chose to do. Inwardly, though, I have absolutely no idea.’
‘How come?’