Nate smiled indulgently. “Ready?”
She glared sideways at him, then looked up at the ornate stonework before her gaze slid down to the double doors. “Remind me again how I was talked into this?”
“There wasn’t a lot of talking involved.” Stepping in front of her, he ducked down to look into her eyes. “It’s just dinner.”
“With your family,” she said, frowning. “I swear, if you hadn’t conned me—”
“Well, we’re here now.” The fine-boned hand he reached for was cold, so he threaded their fingers and squeezed in reassurance as he tugged her up the steps.
“‘Dinner somewhere nice in Manhattan,’ he said.”
“This is somewhere nice in Manhattan. Next to Central Park.”
“‘A few people I know,’ he said.”
“Known them all my life.”
“‘A birthday dinner, so I have to be there,’ he said.”
“My mother can be unforgiving that way. But this way, I can keep my date with you, too.”
“I bet all the people who do business with you read the fine print with a magnifying glass.”
Waiting for her to take the final step, Nate stepped in and silenced her with a kiss. It would be all too easy to tug her back down the steps and take her to his penthouse to spend hours kissing her. Especially considering how much fooling around they’d been doing since the kiss on the boardwalk a few weeks ago. But instead he waited for her to lift her long lashes and calmly ordered, “Take a deep breath.”
She did.
“And exhale.”
Her shoulders dropped at the same time. “I hate you for this.”
A little more than an hour and a half later, he hated him, too. If the day he’d spent making deliveries of cupcakes hadn’t been enough to point out the differences in their lives, then the way his family treated her compared to how hers had treated him would have highlighted it in spades. They looked her over like she was breeding stock, explained parts of the dinner conversation to her like she was a complete imbecile. Then his mother’s best friend discovered Erin had catered the designer cupcakes at the charity event where the family diamond had come out of hiding.
“Those lovely little cakes with the flowers?”
“Yes, some of them had flowers.” Erin smiled politely as her coffee was poured.
“How very clever of you.”
Nate ground his teeth together, his gaze shifting to Erin as she reached up a hand to tuck a shining strand of hair behind her ear. There was no need, it was already there. It had been there the dozen other times she’d checked it, too.
His mother looked at her as if the new information changed her breeding potential. “How long have you been in business?”
“Well, actually—”
“So many good catering companies in Manhattan.”
“We’ve kept every one of them in business,” his father added drily.
“I don’t believe I’ve heard of yours, Erin—what did you say it was called?”
“She didn’t.” Nate kept his tone flat.
“Well, there’s no need to take that attitude, Nathaniel,” his mother said, lifting her nose in the air. “I might employ her services for another event. I’m sure Erin would be very glad of the business, wouldn’t you, dear?”
“She does fine without our help.”
“I—” Erin’s mouth closed when he frowned at her, her lashes lowering a microsecond too late to hide a flash of what looked like anguish.
But she had nothing to feel bad about. Even if he hated that she’d changed her personality to fit the people around her. She did that a lot. It was why she’d always seemed different to him each time he met her. With her family she tended to put the needs of others before her own. With her friends she was bright, animated and funny. Not that she wasn’t all of those things and more when Nate was around, but when they were alone she was several other things, too. Sassy, quick-witted, feisty and his personal favorite: frisky. She was incredible. She shouldn’t change for anyone. Least of all people who put shadows in her expressive eyes. Nate hated those shadows.
And he’d had enough. His duty was done.
Tossing his napkin down on the table, he pushed his chair back and glanced briefly at Erin’s look of astonishment as he walked round the table to her. “We both have early starts. Happy birthday, mother. Dinner was wonderful as always.”
“Nathaniel—”
Drawing Erin’s chair back from the table, he smiled at each of the dinner guests in turn. “Eleanor, Oscar…Dad—I’ll see you in the office.”
His mother wasn’t happy. “But we haven’t served the cheese platter. You adore the cheese platter. There’s a wonderful selection from France this time.”
Setting a hand to the inward curve of Erin’s spine, he gently but firmly guided her toward the archway. His mother was right. He did adore the cheese platter. When he was a kid he used to pray for the arrival of the platter. It was a neon exit sign.
“I’m sure, as a caterer, Erin would love to sample some really fine cheese…”
When his mother turned her patented guilt-trip expression on Erin, Nate increased the pressure on her spine. She lurched forward a little, scowled briefly at him and then stepped away to smile warmly at her hosts. “It really was a wonderful dinner, Mrs. Van Rothstein, thank you. Happy birthday. You have a very lovely home, too….”
“Thank you, dear. Mansions of this size are a little thin on the ground on the other side of the river, I’m sure.”
It was the last straw as far as Nate was concerned. What possessed him to think bringing Erin to dinner was a good idea? Had he been insane? But it had been worse than he’d thought it would. From the way she sidestepped his touch in the hall, he knew she was thinking about running again. And frankly he couldn’t blame her.
So angry he could barely see straight, he took her home in silence.
He didn’t even kiss her good-night.
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