Free The TROUBLE with BILLIONAIRES: Book 2 by Kristina Blake Page A

sand in my shoes? No thanks.”
    “Then what is your idea of a romantic date?”
    I hesitated, picking at my food as I thought about it. “A good book?”
    “That’s kind of a solitary act.”
    “Most of my nights have been pretty solitary lately.”
    “And if you met a man you were interested in? Where would you want him to take you?”
    I picked up my napkin and wiped my fingers before taking a sip of my water. “I don’t know,” I said, the ice in my glass rattling as I set it down. “My last date, we went to a movie and stopped at a local diner for cheese fries on the way home.”
    “I could probably do a little better than that.”
    I looked up at him. “I’m sure you like to show off for your dates, wine and dine them until they have no idea what hit them.”
    “I like to make a lady feel like a lady.”
    “And what if that’s not what she wants? What if she’s the kind of girl who prefers to go Dutch for dinner or to do things like strolling through a farmer’s market or hunting over a long weekend?”
    “If that’s what makes her happy, I’m open to it.”
    “And what about you? Don’t you want a girl to like the same things you like?”
    “Not always. A little difference of opinion makes room for compromise and learning new things. Aurora and I didn’t always like the same things.”
    “Really?”
    “She wanted to spend her weekends reading scientific journals while I was more interested in exploring antique shops.”
    I smiled. “I can’t imagine that.”
    “Why?”
    “You don’t seem like the kind of guy who’d be happy exploring dusty artifacts.”
    “Oh, no. I love it. You should see some of the gems I’ve found decaying on old shelves.”
    “I’d like to see them.” I picked up my water glass, the ice again rattling. “My uncle used to collect things. He particularly liked anything from the Civil War era.”
    Conrad’s eyes brightened. “I have a sword that General William Hardee reportedly carried during the war.”
    “Really?”
    “It was discovered by one of his great-grandchildren years after the war. They couldn’t prove that he carried it in the war, but there are pictures that show he carried one that looks an awful lot like it. And tests on the sword itself show that it was forged in the 1850s, which makes it the right age.”
    “That’s pretty awesome.”
    “I’ll show it to you, if you’d like.”
    “I would.”
    Conrad reached over and touched my hand with just the tips of his fingers. “I knew we had to have something more in common that just having the dumb luck to show up in the same location twice in a lifetime.”
    I pulled my hand back.
    “Mellissa—”
    “My life is kind of complicated right now, Conrad.” I set down my water glass and pressed my hands together in my lap. “I have my grandmother and the things that are happening down at Cepheus. I can’t really start a relationship right now. I mean, you were married to my boss.”
    “The important part of that being ‘were’—past tense.”
    “But don’t you think that complicates things?”
    “I think everything that’s worth having is complicated.”
    I tilted my head slightly, digging a nail into the ribs on my plate. “I don’t know where my life will be next month, next week, or even tomorrow. I can’t ask you to get involved with me only to have me disappear at the drop of a hat.”
    “Do you plan on moving?” he asked, his eyebrows raised in a comical little bit of confusion.
    “No. But…”
    “Look, Mellissa,”—he reached across the table and pulled my hand between both of his—“I’m not asking for commitment. I’ve been there, done that. I don’t really want to go down that road again. But I like you and I’d like to spend some time with you. That’s all.”
    “Really?”
    “Yes.”
    I smiled, a little bit of a relieved sigh escaping my lips. “I can do that.”
    “Good.” Conrad got up and moved to my side of the booth, dragging his plate with