Benson

Call it overexcited, call it liking to be punctual, call it whatever the fuck you want, but I got to the restaurant twenty minutes early. I don't know what the hell is wrong with me. I've never even given any woman a second thought, and here I am, unable to keep sweet Faith out of my mind. I'm only there for five minutes when, much to my pleasure, Faith walks through the door. I stand as soon as I see her; her eyes take me in. I've never been so self-conscious of a woman looking me over. I want her approval more than I ever wanted anything else.

I take this opportunity to look her over, too. Her tight black skirt hugs her curves perfectly. Her loose blouse has just a peek of her ample cleavage showing. I continue to gaze up at her cleavage and her silky smooth neck. By the time our eyes meet, I know she knows I have checked her out. She blushes, and I must let her know how gorgeous she is when she blushes. I'm surprised by her answer.

"Do you know how gorgeous you are when you blush?" I honestly tell her. She smiles shyly at me and shakes her head no.

"Well, that's a damn shame. Shall we?" I reach my arm out, and she loops her arm around mine. I nod towards the hostess to let her know we're ready to be seated.

She takes us to the private room that I had called and requested. Faith looks up at me with a questioning look. "I might have some pull here with the owner." I smile.

We're seated and handed menus. "Do you have any favorites?" I ask as she looks over the menu.

"I love spicy salmon and California rolls; what about you?"

I nod approvingly.

"I love them too, but I also like crunchy and caterpillar rolls," I inform her.

She smiles brightly and asks, "How about all four?"

"I like how you think." I wave over the waitress, standing to the side, waiting for our decision. "Saki?" I ask.

"Yes, please!" She responds.

I give the waitress our order and request a pot of tea and the Saki.

"So, what's this project you mentioned on the phone?" Faith inquires.

I'm impressed with her desire to get right down to business.

"Shall we wait until after dinner to delve into the project?" I ask hopefully.

"Of course," she responds with a smile.

I take this opportunity to ask about her interview with Lance Crawford. "I had an interview with Lance Crawford over lunch today, and he mentioned that you and Grace were his next interview. How did it go?"

Her demeanor changes immediately, and I almost wish I didn't mention Lance Crawford.

"It was fine. I'm not going to lie; Crawford is a bit of an asshole," she announces, and I grin.

"Do tell." I attempt to get more information.

She gets a serious look on her face, and I almost feel sorry for Lance Crawford, but not really.

"Let me ask you a question," she says, and I'm very concerned about where she's going with this question.

"Were you asked if you saw getting married and having children in your ten-year plan?"

"No, he did not," I reply.

She shoots back, "Well, Crawford asked Grace and me. The article is supposed to be about young successful businessmen and women, not fucking Home and Gardens! How did you answer the question of where you see yourself in ten years?"

I hesitate before I answer her, "I told him that I plan on being on my island drinking a Mai Tai on the beach." I shrug.

She laughs. "That sounds perfect!"

Yep! I'm in love with this woman!

"Wanna come?" I blurt out.

Thank goodness she laughs, and it's the most fantastic sound I've ever heard.

"To your island?" she asks me with the sweetest smile.

"Yes," I quickly reply in all seriousness.

"How about we see how dinner and this project go before jetting to your private island? Wait, you don't own a tropical island, do you?" she asks with her beautiful brows furled.

I chuckle. "No, I don't own an island... yet."

She smiles the most beautiful smile, and I deeply desire to purchase a tropical island just for her.

Our food arrives, and we dive right in. Faith lets out a moan while enjoying her food, and I about choke on the piece of sushi that I just placed into my mouth. I raise my eyebrows at her, and she blushes a gorgeous shade of pink.

"I might have a thing for sushi," she admits with the most adorable look.

I push more sushi towards her. "Please, have more." I grin.

"Stop making fun of me," she pouts.

I place my hands up in surrender. "Is it bad that I just want to hear you, um, enjoy your food?"

She blushes. I could sit here all night watching this woman blush at my words.

"So, are we going to discuss this project, or are you just going to sit back and watch me enjoy my sushi?" She smirks at me with a challenge in her eyes.

"Remember that I was going to wait until after dinner to discuss the project. I don't want to compete with the sushi for your attention. I don't like to share," I honestly add.

Her eyebrows raise, and I can see the heat in her cheeks. Her luscious lips curve slightly. "Why, Mr. Easton, are you jealous of the sushi?"

I laugh loudly at her response. "Maybe I am?"

She gives me a brief look of surprise before popping another lucky piece of sushi into her mouth and moaning again. Damn, I'm in deep trouble!

After dinner, we sip on the saki and get down to business.

"I've been going back and forth on this next project. I have a large plot of land in Borrego Springs, close to the Borrego State Park. I want to develop it into single-family homes and luxury townhouses. The community will have places for businesses like restaurants, wine-tasting rooms, gift shops, coffee shops, and a twenty-four-hour fitness club. I want it to have a walking trail, a neighborhood fire pit, and a swimming pool." I finish and am pleasantly surprised at Faith's focus on my every word.

"So, what are your thoughts?" I find myself caring what Faith thinks.

"I love it! It's like having its town within a town. It sounds amazing!" She smiles so brightly that I swear she just illuminated the entire room.

"I would like to work closely with Double Faced advertising in putting together a full pamphlet of the community, commercial promotion, magazine, and newspaper ads. Are you interested?" I look at her intently.

"As far as I'm concerned, we're all in. I have to run it by Grace, but I don't see that being an issue. I'm excited about this project and already have thoughts about putting together the promotion material." She doesn't even try to contain her excitement for this project, and I couldn't be happier to work with the twins on my dream project.

Little did I know that in just a few weeks, I would be involved in the worst nightmare of my life.

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