The champagne was only half-finished when their waiter placed a bottle of red wine down on the table, along with two wine glasses. Melanie looked up to tell him that she didn’t want any, when she felt Aiden’s hand on her wrist for the second time that night.
“It’ll go better with the steak,” he said, referring to the filet mignon and mixed vegetables that she’d ordered for her main entrée. It really was as if he could read her mind. Melanie nodded, but didn’t pull her hand away from Aiden’s grasp, until the waiter handed her the fresh glass of wine and she thanked him softly.
“To a successful business deal,” Aiden said after the waiter was gone.
“And to many more,” Melanie added, hopefully. He nodded in agreement and clinked his glass against hers before taking a long sip. Melanie smiled against the rim of her glass.
“So,” Aiden said, placing his down on the table, “what are your plans moving forward in your career?”
“Do you mean just the next investment or…?” Melanie hedged.
“In general,” Aiden clarified. “Do you want the same renown as your father?”
“Yes and no,” Melanie said, shrugging one shoulder. “I mean, it would be great to have that level of success, but I’d rather it not be just because I’m my father’s daughter, you know? I’ve always tried not to use his influence as a way to give myself a leg up in the game.”
“Why not?” Aiden asked, his brow crinkling in confusion. “I mean, if you have the opportunity to go further with his reputation, why not take it?”
“Because then people will build up their own expectations of me, based on what they think of my father.”
“And you don’t think you can live up to those expectations?” Aiden asked, tilting his head.
“I’m not sure, to be honest,” Melanie replied. “But I’d rather live up to my own expectations than to theirs.”
“Well said,” Aiden commented, raising his glass. Melanie clinked it with her own and took a sip of wine.
“How about you?” she asked. “How did you get interested in business and finance?”
Aiden shrugged and said, “I’ve always had an interest in math and I excelled in high school; landed myself an exceptional scholarship that paid for all four years of undergrad and graduated with honors. Grad school was a bit more of a grind, but I made it through alright, I’d say. Your father took me under his wing... The rest, as they say, is history.”
“Was your father in finance?” Melanie asked, placing her glass down.
“No,” Aiden replied. “My father was a school teacher. He didn’t make much money, but he made sure I had the best education possible.”
Melanie nodded. “And your mother?”
“She passed away when I was a teenager,” he admitted, though his face didn’t betray any emotion as he offered up this piece of information. “She was a maid for a nearby hotel. She was able to lighten her load during the school year, but she worked doubles all summer when my father was on vacation. He passed away while I was in college.”
“I’m sorry,” Melanie said, softly. “I’m sure they would have been very proud of your success.”
“Perhaps,” Aiden said. “Though, I know my father wouldn’t have appreciated my lust for success as much as yours did.”
“I don’t think anybody lusted for success as much as my father did,” Melanie chuckled, shaking her head. “Still, I’m sorry about your parents. That must have been tough losing your mother when you were so young.”
“It was,” he admitted, “but I got through it. Just like you did when your father died.”
“I wasn’t as young as you,” Melanie pointed out.
“Still,” he retorted.
Melanie opened her mouth to say something else, but before she could, the waiter arrived with their meals on a tray. He placed her steak and vegetables down in front of her and Melanie’s mouth immediately started to salivate.
“Bon appetit!” he said, and then placed down Aiden’s seafood medley. “Let me know, Sir,” he said, “if you’ll be needing a car home for the night.” Melanie didn’t miss the waiter’s wink, although she tried to ignore it.
They ate in silence for a few moments, only the sound of their utensils scratching against the fine china filling the air between them. Then, Aiden looked up at her. “My first investment with your father,” he said, “I nearly cost him five million dollars.”
“What?” Melanie coughed, reaching for her napkin to dab at her lips. “How?”
“Stupidity,” he laughed in return. “I insisted on this ill thought out investment that your father warned me was far too big for my skill level. But, we had been working together for a while and I thought that I was ready to take on something like that. It was the thrill of it all that got me hooked. Finally, your father agreed.”
“And it was a bad investment?”
“To say the least,” Aiden nodded, pouring himself another glass of wine. “Thankfully, your father knew how to find loopholes in contracts and he found one that got us all of our investment back, plus a little change. But he put me on probation after that, too; no investments until I learned how to research investment opportunities properly and read through contracts.”
“How long did that last?” Melanie asked, grinning now at the thought of her father, basically grounding, Aiden Carmichael—who, up until then, seemed rather invincible.
“About a month, actually,” Aiden laughed. “He helped me with it, too. Soon, I was making successful investments right and left, by his side. Every time I did, he invited me out to celebrate over dinner at Le Roux.” He speared a piece of shrimp. “You know, this used to be his table.”
“Really?” Melanie asked, looking around the room and furrowing her brow. “I don’t remember ever coming here with him.” Not that he took her and her mother out for dinner very often.
“This was where he took business colleagues when he wanted to impress them,” Aiden informed her. “Or where he took me when we closed a lucrative deal. Before he passed, he had my name put on the spot in the parking lot. He said that I would need it, if I ever wanted to be as successful as him.” He shook his head, fondly, and Melanie laughed.
“Good old Dad,” she said. “Too cocky for his own good.”
“Hey, it got him some good money,” Aiden argued, playfully. “And it got me to where I am today. So cheers to that.” He raised his glass again, but didn’t wait for Melanie to clink hers against it before he downed the remnants and raised his hand. “Check!”
“What?” Melanie said. “No dessert? I thought we were celebrating, Mr. Carmichael.” Her tone was playful, but she was really upset at the prospect of the night ending so soon. She was honestly having a good time with Aiden and to see it end so soon?
Her heart began to sink ridiculously in her chest.
“I have something at home better than anything they could offer us here,” he informed her in a whisper, before painting on a smile for the waiter and handing over his debit card without much ado. “That is,” he continued, once the man was out of their sight, “if you’d like to join me.”
Melanie bit her lip in hesitation.
Aiden’s eyes were hypnotizing and she had to close her own just to think. Did she really want to go home with her boss? After she had such…thoughts about him just moments ago? She wasn’t sure. If she did want to go with him…well, what did that mean? What did it say about her?
Would anything even happen between them? Surely it was possible for her to be friendly with her boss without things getting too friendly, wasn’t it? Of course it was.
Melanie opened her eyes to find Aiden still gazing down at her, waiting for her response. She could see no hope in his eyes, as if he wouldn’t have minded if she said no, but there was clear lust there, as if he was almost counting on her to say yes. Taking a deep breath, Melanie nodded and gave him a smile.
“Sure,” she said. “Why not?”