“I’m checking on all the staff,” I said gruffly.
I nodded to a waiter, who led us out of the bar onto a small terrace, where a table was laid for one. The waiter hastened to add another setting.
“Usually eat alone?” Chloe asked, raising an eyebrow.
For some reason, I wasn’t inclined to lie so I simply nodded. “All the time. I like the quiet.”
If she thought it was an overshare or a dramatic swerve in the light-hearted conversation, she didn’t show it.
“You?” I asked.
Her lips curved in a smile. “All the time, but not by choice.”
She turned to the view of rolling hills sweeping away from the main building, dotted with light-up walkways. The links were perfectly manicured and beautifully maintained. That was one thing Hill Crest had right.
“I have a confession. I’ve never eaten here before, well, not from the menu,” Chloe said as she followed me to the table.
Pulling her chair out, I waited until she sat before leaning in to say, “I have a confession. Me neither. Not for a few decades.”
“Decades! How long has this place been going?”
“Since before we were born. The old owner, Mr. Blakely, inherited it from his father. I used to come here with my family every Sunday and play in the pool while my father golfed. He’s probably still a member, though he hasn’t visited in years.”
“Oh, so your father is still alive. I thought he’d be old.” Chloe gulped water from her glass, entirely unconcerned that she’d just called me ancient.
“How old do you think I am?”
Chloe thought on it far too long before answering. “Forty?”
“Close enough. Forty is plenty young enough to have healthy parents.”
Chloe’s face fell at my words, and I saw her withdraw. Her carefree teasing dropped away, and she shrugged. An obvious sore point, and I’d pressed right on it.
“So, is forty officially too old for you?” I heard myself ask as I hastened to change the subject.
The loaded question broke Chloe from her melancholy, and she raised that naughty eyebrow at me again. “Depends what for,” she muttered before burying her face in the menu.
Heat blazed through me at her teasing words. She was a firecracker. God, I wanted to set her off and feel her burst in my hands. My cock was on board with that idea, given how it was attempting to break through my zipper. I hadn’t had a woman in… Christ, it was so long ago and so unmemorable, I couldn’t recall.
I hadn’t wanted a woman in a long time, but that changed when I saw Chloe sauntering along the poolside in her too-tight bathing suit, all curves and caramel hair, smiles and knowing eyes. She was something else. Something more than I’d ever expected. My entire attention and focus on fixing Hill Crest shifted. It was a secondary concern compared to capturing the attention of this little hellion. I wanted her brown eyes on me and my name on her lips, leaving in a rush of pleasure. I decided I wanted Chloe, and I would have her, just like that, as I watched her order her dinner. I was a man who got what he wanted or found a way to take it.
Chloe would be no different.