Passion Abroad: A BWWM Billionaire Holiday Romance (4 page)

“
Maybe
after breakfast,” she said with a smile.

“
Sleep
well?” he asked as she pressed one of the elevator buttons.

She
looked at him and nodded. “Like a baby,” she said with a
smile.

Daniel
nodded as a smile played on his lips.

“
You
know, I never really understood why people compared a good night’s
sleep to a baby since babies wake up every ten minutes,” he
said. She looked at him and shrugged. “Guess I don’t
blame you. You found the metaphor in use. I guess no one can blame
you for continuing the trend,” he added as the elevator door
opened. She looked at him before she stepped out with him following
closely.

“
Do
you always make people feel bad about their upbringing?” Erica
asked with a smile.

“
I’m
sorry…I didn’t mean…” he started before she
turned around and looked at him.

“
Hey,
hey. I was just kidding,” she said with a smile. “I was
kidding.”

“
You
almost got me there,” he said grinning. He looked around and
pointed at a private table in the corner of the restaurant. “That
looks good enough,” he said as he led her to the table.

“
Are
you always this charming with ladies or are you just doing this for
me because you are intrigued?” she asked as she sat down in the
chair Daniel had pulled out for her. He took a seat on the opposite
end of the table and looked at her.

“
Intrigued?
Why intrigued?” he asked.

“
Well,
I could be the first woman who actually knew what your company was,”
she said. Daniel raised an eyebrow. “At least I think the geek
in me thinks so,” she added quickly.

“
Actually,
yes. You are the first person who knew almost immediately what the
words Quicker Kitchen Me meant. Most people think I am just a weirdo
putting random words together,” he said. Erica smiled and then
laughed. “Yeah, that’s what I get for having my dad get
my cousin to be the face of Quicker Kitchen Me,” he added in a
rather cynical tone.

“
I’m
sorry, Mr. Reese but is that cynicism I hear in your voice?”
she asked.

He
leaned back in his seat as he toyed with the menu.

“
A
little,” he said as he looked at the menu. “Apparently
Zachary had the charisma the company needed to make the brand pop,”
he said putting up air quotes.

“
I’m
guessing you would have wanted to be part of the advertising campaign
at some point?” she asked. He looked up and nodded. “Well,
where is your cousin Zachary now?” she asked.

“
Last
I checked, he was a bouncer at a club in Vegas,” he said almost
proudly.

She
smiled at him and raised an eyebrow.

“
See,
you turned out better than he did, right?” she said as Emilio
walked up to them. “Hi Emilio, can I have coffee, black with
scrambled eggs and pancakes?” she asked.

Daniel
looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

“
Really?
You are away from home and you still want to play it safe with food?”
he asked holding his hand up stopping Emilio before he could scribble
the order on his notepad.

“
What
are you talking about?” she asked.

“
Scrambled
eggs and pancakes? How very American of you. Try something
different…I don’t know, Mexican maybe?” he asked.
She looked up at him and shrugged. “Allow me,” he said
before he looked at Emilio. “We’ll have the eggs, black
beans, guacamole Pico de Gallo with Greek yogurt,” he said as
Emilio jotted it down. “And some coffee for me and…”
he looked at Erica.

“
Orange
juice, thank you,” Erica said as Emilio jotted it down and
walked away.

“
Before
I even ask my next question, is Emilio the only waiter here?”
she asked.

“
I
like him. He is the one who usually serves me plus he kind of gets
me,” he said. “So, what do you have in mind? What was
your question?”

“
It’s
about the food. Do you always eat something local every time you
visit a new country?” she asked.

“
One
time I was in Singapore and one of my business partners ordered me a
Sambal stingray dish. It sounds great but when you look at it, it’s
like a bunch of ingredients slapped on a banana leaf but it is
heavenly,” he said.

“
You
make it sound like it is some disgusting thing,” she frowned.

“
Well,
when you look at it, you might be inclined to throw it out but the
first taste is truly everything,” he said, a faraway look in
his eyes. He almost looked like he was reliving a romantic moment.
She smiled and shook her head. “Trust me, Erica Hayes, you need
to live a little,” he added in a low voice.

“
What
makes you think I haven’t lived at all?”

Daniel
leaned in and a few strands of his thick mane fell out of place. He
looked at her through the hair strands and smiled.

“
Something
about you tells me that there is more to this trip than you are
letting on,” he said.

“
Are
you a mind reader now, Mr. Reese?” she leaned back in her seat
and forced a smile.

He
looked at her and smiled. “Maybe,” he said in a low
voice.

She
looked into his eyes and shrugged.

“
Maybe
you are reading into the wrong things,” she said as Emilio came
back with their order. Daniel smiled at her as Emilio put their food
on the table.

“
You
are going to make me work for the intel, aren’t you?” he
asked.

She
took a sip of her juice and looked at her plate. She had to admit, it
did look inviting. She put the glass down slowly and picked up a
fork.

“
You
have no idea,” she said before she took a bite. “Oh my
dear Lord, this is actually really good,” she said taking
another bite.

Daniel
smiled as he took a bite of his own food.

“
Hate
to say I told you so, but I told you so,” he said with a cocky
smile.

“
So,”
Erica started as she looked at him. “What is the story with you
anyway? I just met you less than twenty four hours ago and all I know
is that you run a company of home appliances and that you probably
came out here for business and decided to stay on an impromptu
extended vacation.” She took another bite and looked up at him.

Daniel
looked at her and smiled. “There isn’t much to me really.
I run a company my father founded and I have learned the hard way
that every so often I have to make a little time for my personal
time. And maybe that’s why I decided to take a few extra days
after the deal closed,” he said.

She
looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

“
Now
I have to ask,” she said. He looked at her and she smiled. “And
I know how ridiculously hypocritical I sound right now.”

“
Okay.
I will bite,” he said as he took a sip of his coffee. “This
time,” he added.

“
That’s
more like it,” she said with a smile.

“
Okay,
this is what happened. I was trying to make everything work out, you
know, at work and at home. And I guess I somehow leaned too much into
the corporate and forgot all about life at home. So one day I got
back home from work and I was all alone,” he said. “I
waited for a few weeks and my girlfriend didn’t show up and she
wasn’t answering my calls either. I just put two and two
together when she came as my business partner’s date to one of
my parents’ events.” He took a bite of his food and
looked up at her. “So that’s the story of my life. The
sad, lonely story of my life,” he added as he looked up at her.

She
took a sip of her juice and smiled sadly. “Your story is really
sad. Does it get you laid much?” she asked as she took another
bite.

Daniel
smiled and then laughed. “What would make you say something
like that?”

“
Well,
I have worked with enough big players to know that Rolex on your
wrist is the real deal and you are a good looking man, a rich good
looking man. So there is no way you can convince me that you have
never dropped that story just to get laid,” she said.

Daniel
looked into her intense brown eyes and smiled.

“
Well,
I might have gotten a pity lay one too many times but believe me, I
have never told that story to anyone before. At least not with that
intention,” he said.

She
raised an eyebrow and smiled at him.

“
Aha.
So you have told that story before, haven’t you?”
She
asked with sly smile.

“
Maybe
I have. But enough about me. What about you?” he asked as he
looked at her. Her gaze dropped as she toyed with her food. She was
not sure she was ready to open up yet. It had taken a really long
time to even open up to two of her closest people, her sister and
Cassandra. She took a long deep breath and looked up. “It’s
that bad, huh?” he asked.

“
To
be honest, it’s really that bad plus a whole lot of shit on
top,” she said as she looked at him. She shook her head and
then looked up. “But it’s kind of almost the same thing
as your story,” she added.

Daniel
raised an eyebrow.

“
So
you let work get the better of you too?” he asked.

“
Not
exactly but…” there was no way around this. She had no
more words to express herself. She looked up at him and smiled. She
didn’t know what it was about him that made her feel so safe
with him. Normally, she wouldn’t have said anything to a man
she barely knew but she suddenly had an urge to pour her heart out.
“I trusted someone, a lot. And he hurt me,” she said in a
low voice. “A lot,” she added as she looked down at her
plate.

Daniel
looked at her and suddenly felt guilty for making her open up.

“
Hey,
I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean to make you revisit a
painful past,” he said.

“
Don’t
be. It’s not your fault,” she smiled.

“
Yes
it is,” he said as he reached for one of her hands. “Believe
me, I honestly didn’t mean to make you relive a painful past,”
he said in a soft voice.

“
Water
under the bridge,” she shrugged as she looked at him. She
pulled her hand away from his and took a bite of her food. She then
took a long sip of her juice before she put the glass down. She
couldn’t help but notice the sad look Daniel was giving her.
“What?” she asked.

“
Nothing,”
he said in a low voice.

“
Really?
Because you are looking at me like some kind of porcelain doll about
to be run over by a truck,” she said with a smile.

“
Where
do you get your metaphors from?” he laughed.

“
I
don’t know. I just say whatever feels right,” she said
taking another bite.

“
Clearly,”
he said as he looked at her.

“
But
anyway, apart from the sob story, I have one sister, a twin Emily.
Fraternal not identical and my best friend Cassandra. They are the
two most important people in my life,” she went on as she toyed
with her food. “We have a younger brother, though sometimes we
feel like he is the older one. And that’s that about my
family…oh wait, there is my mom and dad… Some crazy
telenovela story there. That’s it,” she said almost
excitedly.

“
Okay,
that’s a whole lot about your family.”

“
Maybe
you should try and see if you can match it.”

“
Alright.
I have one sister, Melanie. Needless to say she is my world. She is
five years younger than me and she always acts like she is an adult
but she will always be my baby sister. You know, kind of like the
situation you guys have with your brother. And then there is my dad
and we get along quite well despite the whole Zachary incident when I
was younger and I guess that’s that,” he said. She looked
at him and wondered where all this was going and how it had started.
“I should have mentioned my best friend Vince,” he added.
He looked at her and she laughed. She had no idea where all this was
going.

“
That
is the quickest I have ever got to know anyone,” she said as
she looked at him.

“
Me
too,” Daniel said. She put her fork down and looked at him.
“So, what now?” he asked.

She
shrugged as she dabbed a napkin on her mouth.

“
I
don’t know about you but I am going to chill out by the pool,”
she said. Daniel frowned. “What?” she asked when she
noticed his frown.

“
You
do know that after meals, you are supposed to take at least an hour
before swimming, right?” he said.

She
raised an eyebrow. “Yes I know but I didn’t say I am
going to take a dip in the pool. I’m just going to get a tan.”

He
took a deep breath and put his fork down.

“
I
have a better idea,” he said as he pushed his seat back from
the table. She looked at him and raised an eyebrow. “Come on,”
he said as he offered his hand to her. She looked up at him and
wondered why she was so trusting of him but for some reason, she just
put her hand in his and stood up.