Because…?" she prompted.
"I couldn't stop thinking about you." Apparently champagne made him a drippy sentimentalist. "Your passion," he corrected quickly. "We'll say I was smitten."
"Smitten," she repeated.
"Completely." He held her eyes and she held his, and there, with the worst soup ever concocted in front of them, Reese felt a hit low in his gut. A hit of attraction like nothing he'd ever felt before. No, that wasn't true. He'd felt something like this before. With Gwyneth. He resented the similarity the moment his mind connected those dots.
He needed to get back on point. Like in a meeting when everyone gets off track and needed to be dragged back.
"There are a few details we should discuss tonight," he continued after another putrid bite. "We need to coordinate our schedules. Do you have an assistant?"
"Are you joking?" She took a bite, her eyes scrunched in morbid expectation. Then they opened and the expression on her face faded into not bad.
"Am I joking about what? And how could you possibly like that?"
"Are you joking about me having an assistant," she said, then gestured to the soup with her spoon. "What's not to like? It's watermelon. It's refreshing."
"You shouldn't have to drink watermelon. Why don't you have an assistant?"
"Because I like to do everything myself."
He sighed. Hands-on. Bad business, big heart. That should be a saying.
"Very well, I'll send you my schedule." He pulled out his phone.
"Now?"
"Why not?" They were a power couple. Any onlookers would think they did this kind of thing as foreplay.
"Okay." She reached into her clutch and came out with her iPhone.
He tapped his e-mail icon and glanced over at her, catching her watching him. "It's Harrington, by the way. My middle name."
Her lips tipped. "Nicole."
"Okay, Merina Nicole Van Heusen. Shall we?"
"Let's."
* * *
Seared scallops with cayenne and a dollop of crème fraîche and caviar followed the watermelon soup. Dessert was chocolate mousse topped with roasted figs served in an almond tart. She and Reese polished off the champagne, ordered coffee, and camped at the restaurant table until they closed at eleven.
What started out as a nerve-wracking evening with her worrying over what to wear and how she'd handle aphrodisiacs with a man she barely tolerated had ended with Merina feeling better about everything. She and Reese may not be friendly with one another, but in business, they glided. Once their iPhones came out, they'd excitedly shared meeting details and talked shop. They had a lot in common even though her hotel was radically different from his. Although, the head-butting continued when he'd started telling her what to do.
"You'll need to cancel drinks with Lorelei on Tuesday," he'd said after dessert.
"Forget it. I haven't gone out with her in ages."
"New fiancé," he argued, pointing at himself. "Whirlwind romance. Wedding in two weeks."
Okay. That was fair. The discussion had prompted her to point out how he needed to cancel dinner with a woman named Claudia at an upcoming art show.
"Forgot about her," he'd commented, then tapped a quick note into his phone.
"Let me guess? Are you having Bobbie send her flowers?"
"No. No date, no flowers. I sent Bobbie a note to cancel and not reschedule."
Oddly enough, she'd felt a blip of admiration for the way Reese handled dating. Not the way he tore through women like they were disposable, but how he had the confidence to do whatever he wanted regardless of what people said about him.
After Corbin, part of the reason Merina hadn't dated was because she was beyond embarrassed she'd allowed something so humiliating to happen to her.
The next day at noon on the dot, she strode into Reese's office for their appointment, one with a public relations person who was hired specifically to help this engagement and marriage go off without a hitch. In Merina's opinion, the woman was barely needed. Merina and Reese were professionals who were damn good at their jobs. After the combined first date/business get-together last night, there was only the matter of the prenup, the wedding, and then riding things out until the divorce.
Reese was just pocketing his cell phone when she walked in, with an appointment, thank you very much. Bobbie still hadn't looked happy about letting her through. The doors shut behind her and Merina told him, "Bobbie really hates me."
"No, she doesn't." He strode out from behind the desk, today in a deep gray suit, red tie. "She's too busy to be cordial."
"Like you?" She smiled sweetly.
"Very funny." He made an after you gesture and they walked out of his office via a side door, down a hallway and into a conference room. There, a platinum-blond woman sat, wearing a white pantsuit and a scowl. She was young and very pretty and she looked pissed, which meant only one thing.
"Looks like she didn't appreciate your flowers," Merina said as Reese's hand closed over the doorknob.
He frowned, looked through the window at the peeved blonde, and then said, "No. This is our advisor."
Wow. Their advisor was beautiful.
He pulled the door open and announced, "Penelope Brand, I'd like you to meet Merina Van Heusen, my—"
"What were you thinking?" Penelope bolted out of her seat. Taking in her posture, Merina considered that Reese was lying. Because this woman was not happy. Then Penelope turned her scowl on Merina. "You went on your first date in public and not only did you not kiss each other good night, you barely touched each other!"
Reese sighed and Merina blinked over at him, shocked he wasn't having the blonde escorted out by her golden tan.
"I'm sure we can work this out," he said with exaggerated patience. "Merina, have a seat." He nodded at a chair and Merina took the back of it.
"That's what I'm talking about," Penelope exploded. "You just directed your fiancée into her seat with a chin nod." She shook her head, looking disappointed and exasperated. "We can't announce the engagement on the heels of this disaster. I'm going to have to put some spin on your impromptu outing last night to fix this.