Trust Me on This - Jennifer Crusie [16]
The waiter came back with the wine.
Alec touched his glass to hers and looked deep into her eyes, smiling his best vulnerable-puppy smile. “To the start of something wonderful.”
“Probably not,” Dennie said, and drank.
Alec stopped his glass halfway to his mouth. “Probably not?”
Dennie nodded. “I’m giving up guys like you to concentrate on my career. That’s why I need to meet your aunt. I should probably have told you that earlier. Should we go dutch on dinner?”
Alec looked confused. It was a look he was quite good at faking, but talking with Dennie made it even easier than usual. “Uh, no, I have plenty of money. What do you mean, guys like me?”
Dennie sipped her wine. “You know. Sophisticated. Charming. Good with wine lists. What is it that you do that gets you plenty of money?”
“Investments.” That should interest her. Alec frowned at her, knowing he should concentrate on the investments part but wanting to pursue other things. “So why are you giving me up if I’m all of that?”
“Because right now I’m at a turning point in my career. I have to give it everything I’ve got.” Dennie dismissed him with her hand. “I can’t fritter away my time on dinner and sex with guys like you. What kind of investments?”
“Land.” Alec meant to go on waxing eloquent about his big investment habits, but instead he said, “And you couldn’t have had this realization later in the week? My timing has reached an all-time low.”
“I’d feel bad about this, but obviously you’re not going to suffer.” Dennie surveyed him critically. “You’re one of those boyishly good-looking types. You probably never suffer. Actually, a little suffering might do you good.”
Alec scowled at her. “Did my aunt put you up to this?”
Dennie looked interested. “No. Let’s talk about your aunt. She’s out to get you? Why?”
The waiter interrupted them.
“Separate checks, please,” Dennie said.
“Ignore her,” Alec said. “She’s having an independent fit. With any luck, it will go away.”
“No chance,” Dennie said. “But if it bothers you that much, I’ll let you pay for dinner.”
“Would you care to order?” the waiter asked, confused but determined.
Dennie studied the menu. “You’re in trouble. I’m starving.”
Alec tried to recapture his doofus persona. “Good. I love a woman who eats hearty.”
“Well, then …” She smiled up at the waiter. “Prime rib, very rare. Asparagus. Cheddar cheese baked potato. Ranch dressing on the salad.”
“Same for me,” Alec said, snapping his menu closed, and the waiter rolled his eyes and left. “Now about sex—”
“Tell me about your aunt.” Dennie bit into her breadstick again, and he watched her mouth move and lost his place in the conversation. “Why does she hate you?”
“My aunt?” Alec looked away from her mouth so he could think. “She doesn’t hate me. She adores me. She just thinks I need more trauma in my life.”
Dennie stopped chewing. “Trauma?”
Alec picked up a breadstick of his own. “Things come easy for me. Always have.” He scowled at her. “Until you. She thinks it would be good if I failed for once.”
“She’s right,” Dennie said. “She’s absolutely right. That’s why I’m getting serious about my career.”
“So I can have trauma?”
“No. So I can. I’m like you. Everything’s always been easy for me. But I think that’s because I haven’t tried anything tough, you know? And then I overheard Janice Meredith in the restaurant this afternoon. She said that if you’re not failing every now and then, you’re not trying hard enough. And I’ve never failed.”
Alec snapped his breadstick in half. “I have a score to settle with Janice Meredith.”
Dennie leaned forward. “Do you know Janice Meredith?”
Alec looked down the neck of her dress. She was wearing a purple lace bra, and she was rounder than he’d imagined. “Don’t move for a minute, will you?”
Dennie tapped him on the nose with her breadstick. “Pay attention. Do … you … know … Janice