Millionaire's Secret Love

Chapter Sixteen

 Elizabeth left her car in the underground car park of George's building and did the ten-minute walk to the restaurant where she was to meet Dominic.

At nine in the evening on a weeknight, there weren't many people about.

Many of the shops had closed at six, only the restaurants, pubs and the local cinema complex were open for business. The restaurant she agreed to meet him at was in the Saint George's Shopping Centre and next to the cinema and in plain view of the escalators, just in case she needed to leave quickly.

On the second floor where the cinema was located, there were three restaurants: a Pizza Express, a McDonald's and an independent Italian eatery. They agreed to meet in the Pizza Express.

Elizabeth entered the shopping centre and walked past the shops the click-clack of her boot heels on the tiled floor was overly loud to her ears and she tried to slow her face and measure her footsteps. As she rode them up to the second floor, she scanned the surrounding area, looking to see if anyone she knew was out and about.

There were only a few people standing around waiting for their movies to start. As she got off the escalators and walked past McDonald's a group of teenagers drew her attention. To be young again, she thought, would she make unconventional life choices?

At the Pizza Express, the hostess waited at the door. Elizabeth smiled as she came to stand before her.

The restaurant was open planned. Anyone walking by could see the diners. She could see Dominic from where she stood. She smiled warmly at the hostess. "My friend is here already," she said, pointing to Dominic.

Dominic waved a hand in greeting, and the hostess smiled at him in acknowledgement. Turning, she took up a menu, "this way please," and led her towards the table.

The moment they got to where Dominic was, the hostess set the menu down and left. Anxiety made her whole body feel on edge. Shrugging out of her coat she took the chair opposite Dominic.

"I'm glad you came," he said, scanning her just as she took the seat.

She could tell he was calculating how much her outfit cost and she knew he found her choice in outfit less than pleasing but he was trying hard not to comment as he'd done on their previous date.

Compared to her, Dominic was well put together in a three-piece dark navy suit which went well which his alluring amber skin. He reminded her of Shemar Moore. Where Shemar preferred the bald look, Dominic had a neat haircut with a well-groomed moustache and beard.

He was pleasing to the eyes, which was why he made good money as an independent Insurance broker. From his appearance, people would think he was a success. It was a shame success did not teach him how to respect other people's personal space.

Though she did not fancy him, she could not help but compare him with George.

Her nemesis made her think illogical things, whilst Dominic left her barely made a ripple in her emotional lake.

Dismissing any thought of what happened with George, she turned her full attention to Dominic. "I wanted to talk to you about something as well," she admitted, playing with the edge of the menu.

"Can we talk about it over dinner?" he asked. "I only just finished working and need to eat."

Dinner, it felt like Dominic thought they were on a date or something and she decided to not let him think this because it would only cause her more problems.

"I've already had something, but you can order if you're hungry," she said, watching him as he read the menu over, then waved at the server who was serving a table nearby.

Before the female waitress came, Elizabeth scanned the menu. "I can just have a hot drink while we talk."

He nodded and took a sip of the glass of water that he'd ordered before she'd got there.

Within minutes, they ordered what they wanted. Once the server left, she could feel Dominic's eyes on her, and she met his brown gaze with a frown.

She wanted to be civil. The last date they'd been on had been a disaster because she'd found his conversation a little too crude. But sitting across from him now, she wondered what it was about him she didn't like. Apart from him thinking that she was easy, he did not appear to be bad, but she knew looks could be deceiving.

He was the full package, as her mother believed, but there was something shady about him which she couldn't put her finger on. Then it came to her. He was too much like Eddie; she thought. "Why did you want to meet tonight?" she asked trying to remain civil.

Before she'd agreed to meet him, she'd made up some excuse to her mother about dinner the next evening. Her mother had a saying: "Liars never prosper", but what was she to do? She needed to be honest with herself.

"Your mother called me and asked I would come with you to dinner tomorrow evening," he said, watching her like a hawk.

Oh Bollocks, she thought angrily. Clearly, her mother didn't trust her to bring Dominic on her own. Did she guess she would make an excuse not to bring Dominic?

Samantha was a shrewd woman, and she knew it would've been hard to pull one over on her, but she could at least try. Her mother was one of those people who didn't like to leave things to chance. She believed that everyone would be better off if they seized the opportunity when it presented itself. It was why she was such an excellent lawyer.

She gave Dominic a penetrating stare. "What did you tell her?"

A few seconds pass without a reply. She rested her hand on the table and waited.

She thought he wouldn't answer her, but then he covered her hand with his. "I told her I would let her know tomorrow."

Her first reaction was to drag her hand away, but she cautioned herself to do it without attracting attention to herself. Scanning the restaurant to see if anyone was watching them, she tugged her hand from under his, trying to be as casual as possible.

Dominic let her take her hand away and Elizabeth masked her move by moving the cutlery to the edge of the table.

"Why didn't you tell her we weren't seeing each other?" she asked, eyeing him with distrust.

He sipped his drink, then placed his glass on the table carefully. "I can't, not when both your parents and mine are such good friends."

Putting her hands in her lap, she folded them tightly. "Why would you make them think we're going out when we only had a couple of dates which, let's be fair, weren't that great?" she said, her voice raising but not too loud for the nearby diners to hear.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "I didn't think they were that bad."

Stifling her natural impulse to tell him all the things she thought were wrong with them dating, she settled for meeting his gaze.

"You and I aren't a suitable match," she replied, trying to give him a way out. But she was unprepared when he leant across the table. "Do you know how hard it is to find a girl, my parents, like?"

Well, No. She didn't know how hard a time he had in finding someone. And why were his parents' needs more important than his?

"I don't know what to tell you." She shrugged, trying not to sound uncaring but her words belied the fact that she did not place a lot of value on the time they had spent together. "I thought we agreed not to date each other?" Elizabeth added.

Relaxing back in his seat, he gave her the once over. "Weren't you playing hard to get?"

"I wasn't trying to be coy..." she replied hastily.

He tensed and she could see he was bristling with anger, and she wondered if she'd been foolish in thinking he would be reasonable about the situation.

"But how are you going to know if you like me if you don't give dating a chance, huh?" he said, rolling his shoulders.

Tension made her muscles knot and she prepared for him to do something to her.

Setting her palms flat on the table, she stared at him earnestly. "If you must know the truth, I'm started seeing someone," she lied.

Leaning back in his chair, he regarded her with a baffled look. "Then why did your parents set you up with me then?"

She was on a roll. Why stop now?

Elizabeth took in a sharp breath and sighed loudly. "My parents want me to settle down. They think I need a man and a few babies. It's all for their benefit," she said. Elizabeth played with the edge of a napkin on the table. "Here's the thing," she met his gaze. "There's someone I've liked for a long time. We are dating, but I don't want to tell mom, because she'll want to know every detail, including what blood type he is," she confessed.

He frowned at her. "Then why did you agree to meet me?"

She shrugged. "I couldn't do anything but agree, didn't you do the same with your parents?"

He inclined his head a few times.

Just then her phone rang. "Sorry, it might be my boyfriend," she said.

She pulled the phone from her coat pocket and checked to see who was ringing.

It was George. What timely intervention, she thought.

She felt Dominic's eyes on her as she took the call and she decided she needed to put on an act to make her lie seem real. "Hi baby, are you waiting for me?" she asked. "I'll be right there."

Elizabeth hung up the phone before George could say anything.

"I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong impression," she apologised. "I've got to go. He's waiting for me."

She rose to her feet.

"But what about what we were discussing?" he asked, looking up at her.

"This is what I've been trying to say since I've sat down. I want you to tell mom you can't make this dinner or any other dinner. I don't care how you do it as long as she will stop throwing us together."

Until now, Dominic must have hoped they would date because she saw the instant, he realised that she was truly not interested in him and was with someone else.

"I honestly believed you were playing hard to get," he said, his voice hardening.

"Dominic, I'm sorry, but I don't play games like those."

He gave a bitter laugh. "It would have been better if you'd been this persuasive on our first date. It would have saved me the embarrassment of trying to get you to go out more with me," he contested. His voice grew hard as he met her gaze.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled one last time. And she did feel bad, but it was her life, did she want to throw it away on someone that she did not care for? She could not.

Elizabeth grabbed her coat and threw it over her arm. "I know you will find someone right for you." She met his eyes. "I am sorry, but I don't want to waste your time," she said, before leaving. Elizabeth did not think about what impression she left on him, all that mattered was that she left.

She hurried out of the restaurant; two Eastern European men brushed past her. Frowning, she wondered where she had seen them before. When she turned to look where they were going, she was not too shocked to see that they went to Dominic's table. There was something about those men that did not sit right with her she thought as she wondered what business they had with Dominic.

Elizabeth was halfway to George's place to get her car when she recalled his phone call.

Pulling out her phone, she rang George. The phone rang twice before he picked it up.

"Hi,", she breathed. "I'm sorry about what I said earlier."

"I thought there must be a reason." He brushed off her apology. "Do want to tell me about it?"

"Not really," she said. "It's something that's not important anymore."

He didn't pursue her for more information. "I'm sorry for earlier. I didn't get to say goodbye and thank you for the meal."

As soon as he said those words, she thought of his visitor and her entire attitude changed.

"It's no problem, it's what you're paying me for, isn't it?" she said, in a business-like voice.

She heard George sigh, and she felt like a total b***h.

"Um...Well, thank you anyway. I'll see you tomorrow," he said before hanging up. She stared at her phone and wondered if she should call him back and apologise. It was not his fault that she had a niggle of unease at the thought that he had a girlfriend. And it was not his fault that she broke things off with Dominic, so why was she so angry, she wondered.

Tucking her phone back into her pocket, she wondered if Dominic was going to call her mother. At this point, she looked forward to drawing a line between them. She was just going to have to be a big girl and take her mother's disappointment with a pinch of salt, it was not as if she was not used to it.