Not a top secret

Seating quietly in Nathan's car, I began to feel anxious and excited at the same time. I felt like a teenager on her first date. Weird since I was never like this with the other times I was on a date. Not even with Daniel. Though my experience with dating was limited to just dinner as far as I could remember.

He was silently driving the car towards our destination. The traffic was light, so it was a smooth drive. He did glance in my direction occasionally and only asked a few questions that I usually answered with a word or two.

"Where are we going?" I needed to break the tension, or else I just might have a heart attack. Well, everything about this car screamed luxury and comfort, yet here I was unable to find a relaxing position.

"I reserved a table in a restaurant twenty minutes from here. I hope you like steaks." Nathan stated. He glanced at me fleetingly before concentrating back on the road. "Although, they also offer other menus if you're not up to it."

A fine deliciously cooked lean meat for dinner seemed to be a good idea. "I do. I mean I'm good with steaks." Things might still turn out ok. I wanted to keep my fingers crossed. Maybe I could give myself a chance to have a good time. I was already in this, might as well take advantage of it.

After a few minutes of gazing at nothing in particular, unconsciously my eyes wandered to him. I was openly studying him while he was driving. He was in his usual business attire, an expensive-looking suit. His jaw was cleanly shaven, and his hair was styled differently, but it was a bit disarray.

I noticed that he had this habit of running his fingers through his hair. Suddenly, he turned to me and grinned. I could not help the color from staining my cheeks. He just caught me staring at him again. I hope the darkness inside the car covered my embarrassment.

"How do you know Daniel?" I suddenly voiced out my curiosity, my interest was slowly replacing my nervousness. In addition, I could not think of anything else to talk about.

"You can say that we have strong family ties. We had known each other since we were kids." Nathan explained. Evidently, their families were long-time friends, I assumed. They probably had business dealings together, just like James and Daniel.

They had known each other since they were kids, but they were never friends, based on my observation. I wondered why. Maybe it had something to do with their age, or they just had different interests. I could only speculate since I did not have the nerve to pry on their private lives.

We parked in front of a finely looking steak house. He walked around the car and opened the door for me. So far, he was a perfect gentleman, and I could not find fault in him. We were ushered to a secluded table near a large glass wall.

The whole restaurant exuded elegance, luxury, and class. The view of the garden outside was spectacular. I allowed him to order for us, not wanting to trouble myself with all the fancy words. I had never been in this kind of place before. I could not help but feel intimidated.

As the waiter walked away, I started fidgeting with the napkin on my lap. It did not help that he was seating just across from me, studying me under his gaze. Loosen up! I psyched myself up.

"Why did you finally agreed to go out with me? I was actually surprised. I thought you would keep rejecting me." He took a sip of his wine as he lazily eyed me.

"I just wanted you to see that we have nothing in common. You are just wasting both of our time by pursuing me. We are not meant to be." I had been rehearsing that line since last night, thinking that he might ask me that question.

"Ok. If that is your point of view, but before we conclude that we have nothing in common, maybe we should learn more things about each other first." Nathan had that charming smirk on his face, clearly telling me that I would not get out of this that easily. "Tell me something about yourself."

I knew it sounded generic, but I told him basically, what I said to Daniel. I took a sip of my wine, which was far better than what I usually had. I needed something to calm my nerves.

The conversation continued with a lot of uneasiness on my part, with him asking questions and me, answering in monosyllables. I easily avoided topics that I did not want to share with him, which he respected by not insisting on it.

"Your turn. What about you?" I challenged him, deliberately diverting the topic away from myself. Maybe I could learn something about him, but was it wise. I might be putting myself deeper into something I was not prepared to handle.

He raised his brow and supported himself with his elbows on the table as he assessed my question. "Ok, I guess it's only fair that it's my turn."

He stopped what he was about to say when our food was served. The steaks smelled and looked mouthwatering. The plating resembled a work of art that I almost felt sorry to ruin. However, this was delicious food, and I intended to enjoy every piece of it.

He looked up from his plate and eyed me. "I'm sure you heard a thing or two about me." His smile was playful as he waited for my response. He was surely aware of all the things that the news or the gossip columns wrote about him.

I saw quite a few articles on the net. In my opinion, some of them might not be even true, judging from the way the media usually sensationalize the stories to get the attention of the masses.

Should I tell him that I googled him and that Gemma also told me some things to the extent of warning me against him? "Yes, I have heard some." I decided to tell as much. It was not a top-secret.