I watch Chloe dab at the corner of her eye, then take a sip of wine.

“Favorite book?”

She laughs. “Impossible to choose.”

“Fine. What genre do you prefer?”

“You can’t make fun of me.”

“I will not make fun of you.” I make an x over my heart.

“I love a good psychological thriller, but I also enjoy romance.”

“Why was that so hard?” I ask.

“I feel like you’re judging me.”

“How so?”

“You’re like oh, look at Chloe, she’s super inexperienced so she reads romance novels to help her with guys.”

“That is not what I was thinking at all.” I pause for a beat. “How inexperienced are we talking?”

She shakes her head. “Forget I said that.”

I smile at her. I want to know more. I want to know everything. But, I can tell it makes Chloe nervous and I don’t want her to retreat.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asks.

“You told me I should smile more. You put it on your list.”

She purses her lips. Those sweet, kissable lips. “It feels like you’re teasing me.”

“I’m making conversation.”

“Ah, I was confused. That’s not your usual approach.” She finishes off the Chardonnay in her glass. “You like silence so you can study people and make them squirm. I’m surprised you haven’t used that tactic on Fred yet.”

“It’s a unique situation with Fred. He eventually needs to sell, but he’s got enough time and assets to not be forced into anything.”

“I don’t know how any of this works, but if you close the deal—”

“When I close the deal.”

“Okay, when you close the deal with Fred, what does that mean? Is your company the best or something?”

“It already is the best.”

“So, you don’t need Voltaire to make SCM the top media company but you want it anyway because…”

“My Uncle Leo, my dad’s brother, ran the company when my dad died. He’s a nice guy, charming in fact.”

“You two are related?” She lifts her brows.

“Very funny.” I smirk. “Uncle Leo’s too nice. He wasn’t cut out for business and it showed when the company lost millions of dollars under his leadership.”

“So, you’re in charge now.”

I nod. “The last seven years have been about returning the company to where it was when my father died.”

“I don’t know anything about business, but is there a point when you’re happy with it? That you know your father would be proud of where you’ve taken his company and you don’t have to work eighty hours a week?” Chloe asks, elbow on the table, chin in her hand. She’s waiting for my answer with interest.