Chapter Twelve

~McKenna~

I had never been so tense in a car ride, but I guessed there was a first for everything. Of all the things that had happened today, I was pretty sure going out to lunch with the CEO and his son was so far down on the list of possibilities that it might as well not be there at all. Yet that was exactly what was happening, judging by the buildings rushing by the expensive looking buildings of uptown.

I had meant to refuse, I really had. But with the way both of them were looking at me, I found myself agreeing. The little boy, Dom, really was a sweetheart, and I couldn’t imagine disappointing him after just becoming friends.

That was just like me. Putting myself into a pickle and then complaining about it. But still, at least I was going to get an insane meal at a restaurant I probably could never afford on my own. There was an upside to everything, I supposed.

That was what I kept telling myself, and it helped me from panicking as we arrived at what looked like one of the fanciest restaurants I had ever seen. Its exterior was obviously Greek inspired, but not gaudily so, and there was a line of valets already waiting outside. Dominic’s hand was back in mine the moment I was on my feet outside of the far. While I loved children, I had never had one attach to me so quickly and so emphatically. It almost made me wonder if he was missing a certain sort of maternal affection.

That was depressing to think of. He was obviously a sweet and charming little boy. He deserved a mother who was every bit as impressed with him as Rafael obviously was.

Speaking of Rafael, he came up along beside us and gestured for us to walk ahead. His face was still stern, his green eyes sharp in his attractive countenance, but I could see something softening at the edges. Maybe I didn’t need to be scared of this man? After all, I had seen him get pretty angry less than an hour ago and he had never called Dom’s mother a name or moved to threaten her in any way, shape or form. Sure, he had raised his voice, but I couldn’t blame him given what I had observed about the woman’s treatment of her son so far.

Still, it was too soon to tell, even if I did feel inexplicably drawn to him. It was like we were magnets, total opposite polarities but helplessly pulled together. Or at least that’s how it felt for me. Raphael would probably forget about me in a week or two as anything other than that strange woman who his son seemed to be okay with.

We sat in a fairly nice booth towards the back of the restaurant and Dom seemed to be practically vibrating with excitement. He was grinning like a madman and bouncing in his seat almost as soon as the hostess sat us down.

“Do you like Greek, McKenna?” The smile he gave me was just too cute as he opened a menu. “I like gyros, and souvlaki and doulmas and-”

“Let her answer the question, little man,” Rafael corrected gently, ruffling his son’s hair.

“Oh, right.” He looked to me with big, green eyes that I could understand exactly why Rafael clearly doted on his son. He was adorable almost to the point of unfairness and smart too. Next thing I was going to find out was that he rescued kittens in his downtime or something.

“Yeah, I like Greek alright,” I answered. “But if you have any recommendations, I’d be glad to hear about them.”

His face lit up and he happily prattled off the things that were the best there and why he liked them. It had been so long since I had interacted with such a precious child, that I found myself enjoying every moment despite the fact that the CEO of my company was just a few feet away from me.

Any little slip up, and it could affect my career forever. But that possibility seemed to get father and farther away as he watched with an amused sort of expression.

It was strange that someone who I would definitely label as intimidating was so kind in a different setting. But I supposed that I had my work personality and me personality too. Although, it did make me wonder what else I had misread about this tall, dark and handsome business man who had showed up into my life like a hurricane.

“What are you getting, Dad?” Dom asked, drawing his father back into the conversation.

“I’m thinking moussaka,” he answered, smiling down at his son.

“But you always get moussaka! Come on, you should try something different for once!” For some reason, his eyes flicked to me before he nodded slowly. “You have a point, buddy. I guess I’ll get the souvlaki with the spanakopita.”

“Yeah! That’s a good one.” The little boy looked to me with such glee that my heart melted. “Do you know what you want yet?”

“You know what? I don’t have any food allergies, so why don’t you just pick for me?”

“Really!?”

I nodded. “Absolutely. I might as well trust an expert, right?” By the look on both of the men’s faces, you would think I told them I had just given them immortal life. I blushed a bit, and ducked my head down until Dom busied himself with the menu once more.

The waitress came not much later, taking our orders. Rafael ordered an appetizer combination that I had no clue what was on it, then Dom did the rest. The two of them were so cute, a real family, and I felt a sudden pang of loneliness.

When this was over, and I went home to my weeks’ vacation, I had no one to talk to. These two clearly had each other like peas in a pod.

Thankfully, I was able to shake off the melancholy as Dom launched into the series that he was reading currently. It sounded like a YA epic about some kids hunting down magical jewels, and exactly what would have been my thing when I was younger. Goodness, I didn’t think I had ever met such an avid reader in a child, and it tickled me pink.

“So, what got you into reading?” I asked when Dominic finally did run out of steam.

“Dad!” He answered so brightly that it surprised me a bit, and my eyes automatically flicked to the man. He was still looking at the both of us, expression neutral, but I swore I saw his cheeks pinken slightly. “I used to have the worst nightmares, so he would read to me every night. No matter what.”

“But eventually, my reading got to be too slow, so little man started going through books all on his own.”

“Dad pouted for a while, but now he gets that I’m growing up!”

Oh goodness, how freakin’ precious. I looked to Rafael, and he looked just as amused. “You’re practically and adult now,” the CEO agreed gravely. “The next thing I know, you’ll be asking to borrow the car.”

“Eh, I’ll just have you drive me around forever.”

Rafael’s eyes twinkled as he leaned down to the table so he was more eye-level with his son. “Is that so?”

“Yup!”

“I think I’m going to hold you to that. Even when you’re a teenager and everything I do is embarrassing and you hate me.”

Dom puffed out his cheeks and looked downright hurt. “What? You’re the coolest Dad in the world! I’ll never hate you!”

“Promises, promises.”

I just sat back and watched the beautiful, natural moments as they unfolded. It was so strange; part of Rafael was so strong, masculine and in charge that my heart raced just looking at him, but apparently there was another part of him that was so full of love and kindness towards his little guy that it didn’t seem possible. With the two of them it was easy to believe that I was part of a unit, that I belonged and had people who cared about me. I was sure the people around us assumed we were all a family, and instead of making me uncomfortable, it made me quite happy.

Our food came surprisingly fast and then we were all too busy chewing to make conversation. Well, us adults were. It seemed not even food itself could stop Dom from talking about a subject once he got started. I didn’t mind however. He was cute as a button and sharp as a whip, a highly entertaining mix. Even with me taking my time, the lunch and dessert flew by too quickly and then the waitress arrived with the bill.

Rafael took it without a second’s hesitation, sliding his card in with a finesse that spoke of plenty of practice. I didn’t even have a chance to glance at the total, but I was sure that it was exorbitant and far out of my price range.

I almost didn’t want the meal to end. I was having such a nice time, and those came few and far between for me. Although I still didn’t trust this strange CEO that had figured out my identity so easily, my opinion of him had certainly softened.

“Thank you so much for the meal,” I said, sliding out of the booth. “I guess I’ll be seeing you next week at work?” I laughed slightly at that. “If you ever find yourself staying very, very late, that is.”

A strange expression crossed his face before he shook it off. “How are you getting home?”

“I noticed there’s a bus stop only a block or so away from here,” I said with a quick smile. “If I go now, I’ll catch the ride before the evening rush.”

“Nonsense,” he said, shaking his head as he stood. “Allow me to drive you home.”

Yeah right, like he wanted his fancy car in my slum of a neighborhood. “That’s alright. I ride the bus all the time. It’s no trouble, really.”

“And it will be no trouble and a quarter of the time for me to drive you, please. I insist.”

“Yeah!” Dom said, also wiggling out of his seat to join us. “We insist!”

I guess I couldn’t argue with that, so I conceded. “Alright, if it’s not too inconvenient.”

“It’s not at all,” Rafael said, holding his hand out for Dom to take it.

The little boy did, but as he skipped forward, he grabbed my hand as well with his free arm. The three of us all connected, we headed towards the valet to get Rafael’s car.

I had such a surreal feeling as he plugged my address into my GPS and took off. Could this all really be possible? I had gone into work sure that I was going to be fired and that my life was about to spiral out of control, and had ended it by having a mid-afternoon meal with the CEO. Such a strange turn of events, I couldn’t have made it more bizarre if I tried.

Rafael was right though, it barely took twenty minutes to get to my place when it would have taken two buses and about an hour and a half. He pulled up and I hurried out of the car, turning back to him to say thank you.

Our eyes met and there was a strange rush of electricity between us. The kind that stole my breath and made my arm hair stand on end.

“T-thanks.” I sputtered, losing my train of thought. “For everything.”

“It was nothing, really. The least I could do. Again, I am sorry for all of the stress I’ve caused you.”

“It’s fine. I understand I kinda went about things the wrong way.”

Again, something in his expression changed that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. “You did what you needed to do.”

Wait… did he know? I couldn’t quite force myself to ask that question, so I just nodded and made my way to the front door. I noticed that Rafael didn’t pull away until I was safely inside the main foyer, and only then did he leave.

What an incredibly strange day. And, amazingly enough, I had a whole week of paid vacation to replay it over and over again in my head.

But first, I had definitely earned a nap.