Relaxed enough to start asking you some questions.â
He took a sip of wine. âWhat kind of questions?â
âThe same thing you asked me. Iâd like to know more about your work.â
Their appetizers had arrived. Allison took a bite of her mushroom fritter, and he chased a piece of crab cake with another sip of Burgundy.
âWhat do you want to know?â
âHow you got started, I guess. How you created a software empire.â
âI wouldnât call Hunter Systems an empire. Do you really want to hear the whole story?â
âOf course I do. I wouldnât have asked if I wasnât interested.â
That was the kind of thing people said on a first date, and most of the time it wasnât true. But when Allison said it, it never even occurred to him to doubt her.
They were finished with their appetizers by the time he went through the short version of his companyâs historyâhow he and an army buddy connected with a few friends from college and rented that first tiny office on Grand, only a few miles from where the company was now. How theyâd worked round the clock, eating and even sleeping in the cramped space until they had a product ready to launch. How âMagicianâs Labyrinthâ had hit big, making enough money to allow them to expand into other kinds of software.
âBut you still make games?â
âSure. Our gaming division puts out new products every year.â
âBut you donât? You personally, I mean.â
He shook his head. âNo time. And game design is a crazy job, best suited to kids. Kids at heart if not in years. And in case you hadnât noticed, Iâm all grown up.â
It was another not-so-subtle opportunity to flirt. She didnât take the bait, but at least this time she blushed.
The waiter brought their entrées, setting a dish of lobster ravioli in front of Allison and a steak with béarnaise sauce in front of him. He watched as she cut a ravioli in half and put it in her mouth, chewing andswallowing with a little mmm of pleasure that sent a bolt of awareness through him.
âTell me why you donât date,â he said abruptly.
He was breaking his cardinal rule with womenâdonât ask anything too personal, especially in the beginning. His relationships, such as they were, tended to skim across the surface.
But he wasnât actually dating Allison, and he really wanted to know the answer.
Allison looked down at her plate, swirling the other half of her ravioli in cream sauce. âThatâs not important,â she said.
âIt is to me. Iâd like to know.â
She looked up at him, her blue eyes guarded. âItâs not exactly my favorite topic. My family brings it up all the time, and it makes me crazy. Especially when I think there are so many more important things going on in the world than whether or not I go out on dates.â
âLike what?â he asked, taking a bite of his steak but keeping his eyes on hers.
âLike everything. Disease, poverty, natural disasters. And thatâs just off the top of my head.â
He poured a little more Burgundy into her glass. âOkay, youâve got me there. But Iâm still curious.â
She frowned down at her wineglass, tracing the rim with a fingertip. âThereâs not a lot to say. I was pretty serious about someone in high school, but then we broke up, and it justâ¦turned me off the whole scene. Iâve gone out with people here and there, but I havenât been in a relationship since. And at some point I realized I didnât miss it.â
She looked up at him. âMy work and my family are the most important things in my life. I donât need arelationship to feel complete. And I think romance can be a distraction, you know? Because emotions are overwhelming, and itâs easy to give in to them. Because it feels good for a while. And when it stops feeling good, the