Highlander’s Curse by Melissa Mayhue Read Free Book Online Page B

life as quickly as he’d entered, all without so much as a backward glance.
    The next three months couldn’t be busy enough to suit her. The more hectic, the better. Because busy and hectic would surely push Colin MacAlister completely out of her thoughts.

Six

    D ENVER
M AY
P RESENT D AY
    N ow
this
was the way an evening with a potential Mr. Perfect should go. An elegant dinner in an exclusive dining establishment with a handsome, attentive man sitting across the table. A perfect evening with a perfect man. This was so much better than dragging some stranger home in a fit of drunken amnesia.
    Not that this particular man was in the running for The One.
    Abby set her crystal goblet back on the table without so much as a taste and smiled briefly at the perfectly handsome man in question before darting her gaze away and around the stylish restaurant. She found herself unable to meet his intense green stare for more than a second or two without the butterflies in her stomach gearing up for their Riverdance impression.
    “Is the wine not to your liking?”
    “No, it’s lovely, Mr. Flynn, thank you.” She hurriedly caught up her glass again and sipped, trying to back up her false claim with another smile.
    Her new boss was likely paying through the nose for the bottle nestled in ice, if the waiter’s reaction to his ordering it was any measure of cost. Certainly it wasn’t Jonathan Flynn’s fault that her tastes tended more toward bottled hops than grapes.
    “Jonathan,” he corrected with a smile. “No need for such formality between us, my dear.”
    “Jonathan,” she murmured around another bitter sip.
    Maybe he didn’t see a need for any kind of formality, but Abby wasn’t so sure.
    From the long white limo that had arrived to pick her up tonight to the exquisite rose Jonathan had handed her when he’d introduced himself, the whole evening felt about as far from a work-related experience as she could imagine. It felt, in fact, much more like a first date than a meet-and-greet with her new boss.
    An incredibly uncomfortable first date, at that.
    “That’s better. After all, we’ll practically be living together in another month.” He flashed a brilliant smile in her direction just as their appetizer arrived.
    “Mushrooms stuffed with crabmeat, lightly sprinkled with aged Romano cheese,” their waiter intoned, as if announcing that the president had just entered the room.
    Wonderful. Two of Abby’s least favorite foods on the face of the planet, paired for her dining pleasure. There wasn’t enough aged Romano in the entire world to cover that up.
    She picked at the food on her plate, washing each bite down with a tiny sip of the wine.
    “I never miss an opportunity to visit this restaurant when I’m in Denver.” Jonathan broke the silence that had filled the space between them. “The only thing better than this appetizer is the entrée I’ve arranged. I trust you’re not displeased with my having ordered for both of us? I simply wanted to share my favorites with you.”
    “No, it’s fine. Everything’s lovely. Thank you.” Very upscale. Very classy. Definitely an evening fit for the Perfect Date category if she’d ever seen one. Even though it wasn’t a date.
    “Good. I take it everything is in order for your departure next week?”
    “Absolutely.” This was a topic of discussion she’d have no trouble warming to. “I can hardly wait. I am so excited about the opportunity you’ve given me to be a part of this dig. It’s like a dream come true. I’m really looking forward to meeting the rest of the group.”
    “I have no doubt you’ll be a valuable part our team, Abigail. Ah! Here’s our entrée.”
    The waiter returned, sweeping plates off a rolling cart and onto their table, once again announcing their food like an honored guest. “Kobe tenderloins on a bed of truffle-laced mashed potatoes, ringed with beluga caviar. Cooked to a perfect one hundred and twenty degrees, just as you