Convenience

Part 109

When Hayley and Robert got to their feet, David looked at his watch and realised that it was nearly eleven. David nodded at Hayley and Robert, and smiled. Hayley blew a kiss at them. Robert waved as they left the restaurant. Beatrice pointedly continued to make a study of Robert and Hayley. No point missing an opportunity to do a bit of assessing himself, David thought. His wife was a wonderful woman. It was the combination of panache and conservatism, the way she wore her clothes rather than the clothes she wore. This elegantly dressed woman, his wife, seemed to be opening his eyes. The jaded blinkers he'd worn for years had been removed. Chic and feisty!

Beatrice turned and saw his assessment of her.

David smiled at Beatrice. He watched as emotions appeared and disappeared in her eyes. "We made it!" His eyes flicked down to her lips, then flicked back up to her eyes. David rubbed at his jaw.

Automatically, Beatrice's tongue swept over her lips. Nervous tension. Silently, she remonstrated with herself, knowing that he'd read her action as an invitation.

Alarm took hold, as did adrenaline. Time for sensible! Her head told her. Beatrice wondered whether she should just bid him goodnight, and head back for her hotel room. Too late, her brain told her, should have left earlier. She was torn between leaving and staying. Beatrice was not going to give David the satisfaction of seeing her run. Pride. She was too proud to run, even though she was worried. Her heart thudded hard. For some reason, she wanted to make the best use of this opportunity and not take the coward's way out. She came to a decision. Her heart was hammering. Beatrice felt every cell become alert. She asked almost breathily, "What do you mean?"

David tipped his head and feigned some measure of contemplation, "Us?" He smiled, his eyes positively danced, as he said, "Getting it on!"

She ignored the innuendo. She wasn't the drooling type. There'd been a twinkle in his eyes and she wasn't sure whether he was teasing her. Of course she appreciated handsome men, but, she had sufficient control to usually keep herself from feeling faint at the mere sight of a handsome man.

The food was good. Their main meal was great. Dessert was delicious. They had coffee. Surely, that shouldn't take four hours! She pulled herself together. She chuckled, looked at her watch. Where did the time go? She blinked. She had perfectly good reasons not to trust this man. But despite her best intentions, Beatrice found herself surreptitiously watching him over this evening. She still believed in the concept of self-preservation. And where this man was concerned, her best option was to avoid him.

He chuckled at her reaction. He rifled his fingers through his hair.

Again she flicked a look at her watch. She was far from happy, but was doing her best to cover her reaction. "I can't believe that we spent all of our time tonight, without an argument." And she wasn't all that good with small talk! Beatrice saw his acceptance of that statement.

"True." David agreed. He noted her glance speculatively at her watch again. " And if we totalled all of our previous meetings, you will see that we talked more today!" He said. And while Beatrice may not recognize it as such, he was certainly flirting!

She nodded. "Yes!"

"And we haven't talked about the Divorce." He suggested with smooth charm, expectation entwined, as he waited her out. "Or the Trust."

Suddenly anxiety raced through her. Her eyes flashed in annoyance. Her head overruled her heart and common sense resurrected itself. "On purpose?" She asked with an exasperated pout. She wished she could read his mind. She stated with a slightly regal tilt of the head, "Deliberately..."

He shook his head, and grinned unabashed by her tone "I completely forgot!" He was used to being the hunter, used to taking the lead, and yet, he had forgotten.

With a roll of her eyes, she said, "Really!" With her eyes reflecting anxiety and her tone reflecting her concern. Beatrice folded her arms all but ready to hiss at him. Instead, her eyes flashed another warning, "Truly." She gave him a haughty once over, trying to work out whether she had misunderstood him, again. She said slowly, making sure her words were carefully enunciated and well paced. "Another of your scams? A new trick."

David corrected firmly, his tone showing his annoyance, "No."