“Understandably.”
The rest of the meal passed with Kane describing the ranch he’d bought five years ago in great detail to her. He would have felt like he was hogging the conversation, except that she kept asking for more. As Leyla explained, she loved riding horses and hiking, but didn’t get to do either as much as she wanted to.
“I could take you out there sometime,” he said.
He meant it, too. If she accepted his offer, they’d have to spend a lot of time together if they wanted people to buy the idea that they were a couple.
“That would be awesome. I’d really love that.”
The waiter set the tiramisu they’d ordered between them. Leyla picked up a spoon, surveying it like she was looking for the best place to start.
Finally, she took a bite of the tip. “Mm. Amazing.” Her eyes lifted to his. “Aren’t you gonna have any?”
Kane’s stomach churned. He wasn’t sure he could stomach one bite.
Dessert had arrived. Time to pop the question.
Except, in the most untraditional way possible.
He forced a smile. “You go ahead. I’m full from the pasta.”
“I am, too, but this is the kind of dessert you can’t help but eat. Trust me on this.”
She lifted a piece of tiramisu to his lips. Not wanting to turn her down, he ate what was offered.
“See?” Leyla’s eyes went round. “Don’t you want more?”
If she was feeding it to him, heck yeah.
“It is pretty darn good,” he admitted.
They finished the dessert, her full lips drawing his eyes over and over again. It took all his focus to not stare at them.
By the time they finished and Kane paid the check, a tightness had settled in his stomach. He should have brought up the proposal at dinner, but now, they were walking to his car.
“It’s nice tonight.” Leyla turned her face to the balmy sky. A soft gush of wind lifted her hair. Under the streetlights, she glowed.
“How about we keep walking?” he suggested.
A grin stretched across her face.
Walking was good. It would help him work up the nerve to say what he needed to.
But with each step they took, the further they got from any break in the conversation. Movies. Books. They touched on it all, and whenever Leyla got excited about something, she speed-talked.
Sometimes Kane couldn’t even understand what she said, but man, he liked seeing her animated.
In what seemed like no time at all, they’d made it around the block. He had no choice but to unlock the car and drive her home.
At a stoplight, the conversation lagged along with the traffic. Perfect timing.
He opened his mouth, the question on the tip of his tongue.
If I offered you a generous amount of money, would you agree to marry me?
The light changed to green. He hit the gas pedal.
Damn.
He couldn’t do it. The night was too perfect.
As much as Kane obsessed about the future of ClayFuel, he couldn’t bring himself to mar a beautiful evening with an even more beautiful woman for the sake of it.
“That’s my building,” she pointed.
“Oops. Sorry.”
He’d been lost in his head and had to drive to the end of the block and turn around. In front of Leyla’s building, he rushed around the car to get her door, but she’d beat him to it.
“I was going to open that for you,” he said as she put out first one long leg and then another.
She bit into a smile. “Sorry. I guess I’m not used to such chivalry.”
“I’m sorry to hear that.” Closing her door, he offered his arm.
Her fingers were light against his sleeve, and yet even through his suit, the touch had an effect. The feel of her hand, just like her mere presence, shook him into a hyperaware state.
They walked slowly up to the building, but the trip was still too short. With Leyla, even a walk across the whole city would take too long.
“Tonight was really nice,” she said as they came to a stop in front of her apartment.
Her hand slid off his arm, fingertips grazing the top of his hand the slightest bit before they drew back.
“I had a great time. Thank you for agreeing to dinner with me,” Kane said.
“And we didn’t even talk about work together,” she said on a laugh. “You kept your promise. It was all personal. No business.”
A tightness in Kane’s abdomen made him feel like he might fold over. Leyla was hesitating by the door, her dark eyes sparkling.
He burned to kiss her. To draw her into his arms and hold her until the night petered out and the sun rose.
But he wouldn’t.
He’d chickened out that night and hadn’t brought up his offer, but he would have to do it sooner or later. Even though his feelings about the situation were complicated, he didn’t want her to experience the same.
Leyla, hopefully, would soon be playing the role of his wife. It would be a dishonor to make the job any more complicated than it would naturally be.
No matter what, they couldn’t get personally involved.
“Thank you, again.” Kane smiled, keeping his arms firmly at his sides. “I hope you sleep well.”
Her lashes fluttered as it dawned on her that he was about to walk away. Ever the actress, though, she was composed a second later.
“You, too. Good night.”
Stepping back, he watched her go into her apartment.
The whole walk to the car, Kane kicked himself. For what, he wasn’t really sure.
Was it because he’d come up with a great plan to drill for oil in Sharrain, and now he was having trouble implementing it? Was it because he was leading Leyla on when that was the last thing he wanted to do? Or was it because, at a couple different times in the evening, he’d gotten dangerously close to saying screw the whole fake marriage plan?
It was all of those things.
But it didn’t matter. There was an oil deal to be made, and Kane was a Clayton. He pushed through until he got what he came for.
No exceptions.
Chapter 7
Leyla
“Is that your natural lip color? Oh my God, I love it.” The makeup artist ran her fingertips along the display of lipsticks she’d set up.
“Yeah.” Leyla smiled. “And thank you.”
“I’m just gonna add some shine to them, I think. If the director wants a brighter or deeper color, we can always fix that.”
The morning of the first ClayFuel shoot should have been an exciting one. After all, it was barely a week after she’d gotten the job, the set was a fifteen-minute drive from her apartment, and the pay was great.
But some other things in life hadn’t been equally great.
Namely, things with Kane.
Because, for some reason she couldn’t fathom, she hadn’t heard from him all week.
When he hadn’t kissed her after their date, she had assumed he was trying to be a gentleman and not too forward after only one evening together. Surely, when they went out the next time, he’d be more comfortable making a move.
Seven days later, and there still hadn’t been a next time. In fact, she hadn’t heard from him at all. No calls. No texts. Not even any contact in order to touch base about the upcoming shoot.