Then again, he could probably make a potato sack look good.
“Hi,” Leyla said and exhaled.
His eyes lit up, a smile quickly following. “Good evening. You look beautiful.”
“Thank you. You do, too.” She bit her lip in pleasure, then realized what she’d said. “Handsome. I mean handsome.”
He laughed. “I like beautiful. It’s an adjective I don’t get much. Makes me feel special.”
He was special. Not that Leyla would tell him that right then and there.
“Are you ready to go?” he asked.
“Yes. Thanks.” As she grabbed her purse, the door across the hall opened up.
“Oh!” London leaned against her door jamb, doing an awful job at pretending to be surprised. “Sorry. I didn’t realize anyone was out here. I was just going downstairs to check my mail.”
Leyla pressed her lips together to stop herself from laughing. She’d told London not to be at her apartment when Kane got there, and leave it to her to find a way around the request.
“What’s up, Leyla? You going somewhere?”
Again. Worst acting ever. She sounded like she was a robot. Leyla bit hard into her cheek, but a chortle still escaped.
“Kane, this is my friend London.”
“Nice to meet you.” London offered her hand, which Kane promptly shook.
“The same.”
“And yes,” Leyla said. “We’re heading out.” Stepping into the hall, she locked the front door.
“Cool. Have fun.”
“Have a good night, London,” Kane said, and led the way down the hall, which gave London a chance to look at Leyla and mouth oh my God, so hot.
At the elevator, he pressed the button then gestured for Leyla to enter first.
“Thank you,” she murmured, stepping inside.
The second the doors closed behind them, Kane spoke. “She definitely knew we were out there, right?”
Heat crept up Leyla’s face. “Yeah,” she admitted.
“Hm.” He didn’t seem put off by the news. On the contrary, he grinned.
“What?”
“You talked me up to your friend.”
“I…” Her jaw dropped, and she desperately tried to figure out how to answer that. Meanwhile, heat that could melt an ice cap crept into her face.
“It’s okay.” His face softened. “It’s a compliment. I would have talked about you with my friends, too, if I’d seen them today.”
Leyla finally got her mouth closed. “For the record, she wanted to be at my place when you got there, and I said no way. That would be creepy.”
“Lucky for her, she lives a few steps away from you.” He laughed.
“Yeah. She usually finds a way to get what she wants.” Shaking her head, Leyla joined in on the laughter.
By the time the elevator reached the ground floor, all the anxiety she’d felt earlier had disappeared. Kane was anything but a stick-in-the-mud. No matter what happened that night, it was sure to be a good one.
Her street wasn’t in the most lavish part of town, but it also wasn’t in the best. The white sports car with a canvas top and red seats stuck out like a sore thumb. Leyla wasn’t surprised at all when Kane led her to it and opened the passenger side door.
“So, where are we going?” Leyla asked as he settled behind the wheel.
His shoulder was only inches from hers, and the closed space intensified the spicy, woodsy smell coming off of him.
“Do you like Italian?”
“Love it.”
“Great.” He gracefully maneuvered the car into traffic. “Because I made reservations at an Italian restaurant.”
“What if I had told you I’m gluten intolerant?”
He shrugged. “Then I’d take you somewhere else.”
She started to mention it might be hard to get in “somewhere else” without reservations, but then remembered who she was talking to. Not only was Kane a CEO, being exactly that also made him something of a celebrity.
When she’d done a little poking around earlier, the internet search had brought up tons of photos of him rubbing elbows at charity events and galas. People knew who he was. He’d made quite a mark with the Austin elite.
“How was your day?” Kane asked as he drove.
“Really good. I had a shift at the hospital.”
“You work in medicine, too?” His face lit up in surprise.
“Oh. No.” She laughed at her blunder. “Sorry. I do acting work there. It’s called standardized patient work. It’s where they bring in actors to pretend to be patients for med students.”
“Wow. I didn’t know that was a thing.”
“It’s an interview situation. Luckily, there are no real exams involved.”
“I find going to the doctor bad enough.”
“Exactly,” she smiled. “What about you? How was your day?”
“Good. I checked in on the offices in California then made plans to visit a Texas drill site in a few days. Oh, and then got fitted for a suit for this event in New York.”
“What event?”
“The Met Gala,” he said, like it was absolutely no big deal at all.
Leyla barely managed to hide her surprised gasp.
For a few minutes there, she’d actually forgotten they came from such different worlds.
“That sounds like fun,” she said, cool as a cucumber.
The Met Gala was a big deal, expensive and full of celebrities, but she didn’t want to turn into some gawking fan.
“I don’t know that I’ll have time to go, really. We’ll see.” He pointed at something up ahead. “Ah. Here’s our destination.”
Once more, she had to hide her shock. The restaurant they were pulling up to was easily the fanciest, most-written-about Italian spot in Austin. With a five-star rating, Leyla had read about it but only ever dreamed about eating there.
Thank goodness she’d gone with a dress and heels. This kind of place probably didn’t allow guests in jeans.
After Kane handed the car keys over to the valet and a staff member opened the restaurant’s front door for them, a smiling hostess greeted them right away.
“Mr. Clayton.” She stepped out from behind her hostess stand. “How wonderful to see you. Your table is ready.”
“You’re a regular here?” Leyla asked as they followed the hostess through the restaurant.
“I’ve been here twice, I think.”
Well, he’d certainly made an impression.
“Have you ever been here?”
At first, she thought he was making a tasteless joke, but his earnest expression said otherwise.
It was hard not to laugh. Had he seen her tiny apartment? Read her resume?
Heck no, she’d never eaten at a place where salads cost almost as much as her electric bill.
“No,” Leyla managed. “But I’ve heard it’s good.”
“More than good. Amazing.”
The small table the hostess left them at was candlelit and cozy, removed from all the other tables by at least a couple yards. CEOs, it seemed, got the special treatment there.
“Do you like wine?” Kane asked as they settled in.
“Absolutely.”