His face lit up with happiness, shooing away the brooding crease on his forehead. “She’s a lovely child. Beautiful and so intelligent.”

“Sometimes I think I treat her… Too much like an adult. That I should be less stern.”

“I can’t picture you being stern with Gabriela.” He curled a strand of her long, ink-black hair on his fingers, musing, “It must be very difficult to raise a child all alone.”

“I think it gets worse as the years go by and they grow up and take their first steps into the world. For the time, it’s not that hard. On the contrary, it’s a blessing.”

“You have a tendency to diminish your problems, don’t you?”

“What’s the point of making life more difficult than it is already?” She shrugged. “It’s not going to take pity on me if I cry and wail. It’s easier to woman up,” she smiled broadly, “and grab the bull by its horns.”

“I like your point of view.” He paused as the waiter showed him the wine and served them. “Why did you become a lawyer?”

“My grandfather, on my mother’s side, was a judge at one of the high courts in Brazil. And my father’s mother was a prosecutor. I always admired them. But… I’ve never wanted to be a judge or a prosecutor. And I didn’t have to worry about earning a living, so I chose to be a lawyer. It’s more difficult to establish oneself, you know?”

“And you like difficult things?”

“You might say I don’t like easy things,” she smiled. “But, no. It wasn’t that.”

“Don’t be so secretive, Sophia.”

She looked at him and bit her lip, thoughtful.

“Don’t,” his thumb caressed the lip he had just freed. “You bite your lip a lot, don’t you?”

“I… I really don’t know. It’s an unconscious habit. And it seems it’s a bad one because every man I know gets bothered by it.”

“Every man?” Have you had many men?

“Well…”

And what if she has, Alistair Connor? You don’t want anything serious with her, anyway. “You were explaining why you wanted to become a lawyer.”

“I don’t like inequity. And the Brazilian legal system handled my parents’ death poorly. It was so unfair. And as I grew up, I saw so many wrongdoings-”

“And you think you can right the world.”

“No,” she shook her head vehemently. “Not at all. But, at least, I can do something.” Her eyes flashed brown at some secret thought and she whispered darkly, “And when injustice prevails, as it does in Brazil, it’s better to know the legal loopholes and flaws than to be ignorant of them. So you can better use them to your advantage.”

“You speak in riddles, Sophia.” He narrowed his eyes and tilted his head to the side, “I don’t understand what you mean.”

“I’m sure you do, Alistair Connor.” She shrugged and drank some of her wine. “You are a very intelligent man or you wouldn’t have achieved what you have. And how about you? Are you an economist?”

“No. I graduated from Oxford with a degree in civil law and I did my master’s in law and finance, also at Oxford.”

“But you didn’t pursue a law career or want to teach. Why?”

“Because I’m not interested in other people’s problems, Sophia. I only care about what I can do for myself. I’m a ruthless and selfish man. Men usually are.”

“Are you trying to scare me away?” Sophia was momentarily taken aback. “You can’t think like that, really?”

“Why not?” he shrugged, “life is not a fairy tale.” His lips curled into a grimace. “Maybe Ashford was right. We should keep children away from Disney films. We grow up believing in dreams that never come true and are brutally shattered as we get older. There is no happy ending, Sophia. There’s no Prince Charming.”

She shook her head slowly, staring fixedly into his green eyes. “You’re in denial. I don’t believe your empty words. I saw how you acted at Leonard’s. With the children. Especially with Gabriela. I remember your protective behavior when Ethan swore at her and when I hurt myself after that accident. Selfish people don’t like children and they don’t defend others.”

“Don’t make me into a hero,” he snorted. I’m anything but. “And, please. Stop calling what Ashford did an accident-”

She put her fingers on his mouth, “I handled it poorly. I should have left Galewick Hall without saying good-bye to him. He’s impulsive and I am too.”

“He’s a violent man. He was the one who left those marks on your wrist, wasn’t he?”

Sophia averted her eyes and drank her wine, “I bruise easily.”

“And it seems to me that you like violent men.” His eyes turned a wonderful dark green.

“Of course not,” she bristled. “I started a foundation that protects abused women and children. There is nothing more hateful than an abusive man.”

Hmm. Is this true, Sophia? “It seems you have to start asking your foundation for protection yourself. You are clearly attracted to power and dominance.”

Sophia frowned, lines creasing her forehead. “Why do you say that?”

He smoothed out the lines on her brow with the tip of his fingers and sunk them into her hair, flashing a smile, “You’re so easy to read, Sophia. You are a successful and self-confident woman, but you like aggressive men. I don’t know much about your late husband but I bet he was an assertive and callous man. Leibowitz Oil was a small company and now it’s one of the biggest in the world. No one can achieve that by being a teddy bear. You’re surrounded by powerful and strong-willed men. Gabriel, Davidoff, Leonard, Ashford. Me. Despite your… courageous and determined way of facing life, you have a fragile and impetuous side that calls for and begets protection. And dominance.”

“Davidoff is the best. And Leonard… He is such a good friend and a gentleman.”

“Aye, but both are ruthless and powerful when needed.”

She bit her lip, thinking about what he said.

He didn’t resist and dropped his head to kiss her mouth, taking her full bottom lip between his teeth and nibbling it. When he lifted his head, he whispered on her lips, “Don’t bite your lip. If you feel the need, I’ll do it for you.”

She giggled, breathlessly, “You are funny. No one has ever offered to bite my lip for me before.”

“Well, no one’s ever called me funny before. Anyway,” he smiled sensuously, “I’ll gladly do it for you. That and much more.”

Sophia felt a rush of hot desire run through her spine, leaving her light-headed. “Oh, will you?”

He tugged her hair back lightly, “Much, much more, Sophia.”

Timely for Sophia, the waiter approached their table, bringing the menus and the prawns. “Would you like to order, Mr. MacCraig?”

Alistair accepted the menus but put them down on the table. “Give us a few minutes.”

“Of course, sir.” He put the plate of crispy prawns in the middle of the table, between them. “Enjoy,” he dipped his head and walked away.

Sophia looked at her watch, “I think we should order. It’s almost ten o’clock.”

What? No woman ever looks at her watch while with me. Am I losing my touch? “Am I boring you, Sophia?”

“Boring?” she blinked, astonished by his question. “No. It’s just that I wake up very early on Wednesdays. I give a class at eight o’clock. In Cambridge. And I work out for half an hour before I leave home at six thirty.”

Fuck. Wrong day to ask her out. “We should order indeed.” He handed her a menu and opened his.

She bit into a prawn and moaned, “Mmm, divine.”

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. The woman moans over everything. He scanned the menu quickly and snapped it shut, irritated.

She looked at him, “Have you decided?”

“Aye, I know this menu back to front,” he signaled for the waiter. “Have you decided?”

Unsure, she bit her lip, unconsciously, and he tsked twice. She looked up from the menu and he sunk his teeth in his bottom lip, mimicking her actions.

Sophia melted at the sight of his white, even teeth biting his dark pink lip and she lost her train of thought. “Hmm, what?”

His face split with a Cheshire cat smile, “Your main course, Sophia?”

“Ah, yes. How’s the monkfish?”

His beautiful eyes lit on hers. “It’s succulent, tender,” he said softly and licked his lips. “With a slightly sweet flavor.” As you must have. I’ll taste you, Sophia. Soon. Have no doubt about it.

Ah… She blinked and focused her eyes back on the menu, “So, I’ll have the smaller portion. With the herb butter sauce.”

Alistair turned to the waiter and ordered, “For me, the whole sea bream with beurre noisette and Jersey Royal new potatoes. For the lady, the monkfish with herb butter sauce, and…” he looked at Sophia.

“Leaf salad, please.”

“Thank you, sir.”

As the waiter left, Alistair again turned to Sophia, this time shifting on the sofa, his knee touching her thigh. She scooted away. He smiled at the prudish movement, but it didn’t stop his hand snaking around her waist and pulling her closer.

“What are you afraid of?” he breathed, trying to figure her out.

“Nothing. I’m not afraid. But it’s only been a few days since I ended a relationship. You can’t expect me to jump into another just like that,” she snapped her fingers. “I’m not a frivolous woman that changes partners without a second thought, just based on lust.”

Ah, Sophia, I understand your game, now. You’re horny but you’re playing hard to get. Let’s see how long you’re going to resist me. “Don’t put off till tomorrow what you can do today. Tomorrow may be good, but tonight is better, Sophia.”

She smiled, amused, “I don’t think the saying applies to this situation, Alistair.”