He put his beer down and took her hands in his. “Mia, I’ve never known anyone as loaded with self-confidence and drive as you. While other people our age were content with living off their parents or staying in school for as long as possible, you’ve been determined to forge a career for yourself. You came up with this amazing idea, and despite how daunting it was, you ran like hell with it. And not only did you run like hell with it, you spent a year putting it all together. So you didn’t rush into anything.
“You got your financing in order, you’ve surrounded yourself with all the best people in the business and you took your time to make sure you did it all right. So it’s not like you just pulled this idea out of your ass in a day and decided to give it a try without thinking about it.
“Is it scary? Hell yes it is. But if I were going to have someone manage my career for me from top to bottom, I can’t think of anyone I’d trust more than you.”
Her heart squeezed. That meant more to her than anything, because she knew Nathan’s career was everything to him.
“Would you let me?”
He frowned at her. “Would I let you what?”
“Manage your career.”
“You mean would I consider going with MHC?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know, Mia. Not that I don’t think MHC is the shit, because I do. But you and I being friends, and then in business together? Don’t you think that would muddy the waters?”
“I have account managers, Nathan. You wouldn’t even have to deal directly with me.”
He cocked a brow. “So this is a sales dinner?”
“No. Of course not. And I’m insulted to think you’d actually believe that. Even though I do think we can manage your career more effectively than anyone else.”
He laughed and took a long swallow of his beer. “You just can’t turn it off, can you?”
She lifted her shoulders, the tension a constant knot there. “I’m sorry. Again. I can’t seem to tell these days when you’re teasing and when you’re serious. I’m out of sync.”
“You probably need to get laid.”
She lifted her glass and took a long, deep drink this time. “There’s no ‘probably’ about it. I definitely need to get laid.”
Their name was called, so they were seated at their table. It was an intimate place, with loud chatter going on and tables strung close together.
“Great place,” Nathan said. “And crowded.”
“I know, right? You’re going to love the food.”
Their waiter brought menus, so they perused those and ordered food, along with refills on their drinks.
“So you’re going to come to the games and watch me play, right?”
She gave him a look. “You do realize my brother plays for the Sabers, too.”
“Yes, I’m aware. But I mean to watch me play.”
She laughed. “Yes, I’ll come watch you play. Flynn got me season tickets when he found out I was moving here. And Amelia has tickets as well so we’ll both be going.”
“That’s his girlfriend?”
“Yes.”
“She’s the chef at his restaurant, right?”
Mia nodded. “The head chef. She’s amazing.”
“You should take me there to eat sometime.”
“Sure. You’d like it. Amelia makes some incredible and unique dishes.”
“Sounds good. How about tomorrow?”
She shook her head. “All you think about is food.”
He slanted a smoldering look in her direction. “That’s not all I think about.”
“Okay. Food and sex.”
“Correction. Food, sex and football. Not always in that order.”
She laughed. “That sounds about right for you. Speaking of sex—”
“Now we’re getting to the good stuff.”
She rolled her eyes. “Speaking of sex, are you seeing anyone?”
He shook his head. “Nah. Too much going on right now. Plus the press is all up my ass about succeeding my dad, and the last thing I need to do is bring a woman into all that bullshit. You know how it is.”
“I definitely know how it is.”
“So that means you’re not seeing anyone?”
“You remember the discussion we had at the bar about me needing to get laid?”
“Yeah?”
“That means I’m not currently seeing anyone.”
“Right.”
Their food arrived. Nathan had ordered the hangar steak and fries, while Mia opted for the spaghetti with plum tomatoes. She reached over with her fork and snagged a slice of his steak.
“Hey,” he said. “Don’t you know every bite of protein counts?”
“Oh, you poor baby. You’ll just have to go without this one tiny morsel.”
“You’re a mean woman, Mia Cassidy.”
“Uh-huh. You’re what—six four?”
“Yeah.”
“And I’m five four. So I think if you wanted to, you could eat your meal and mine and there wouldn’t be much I could do about it. So spare me your sob story about how mean I am.”
“You are mean. You know I have to be nice to you.”
“Or what? It’s not like I’m your girlfriend and I’m withholding sex.”
He gave her a shocked look. “Women do that?”
“I don’t, but some do.”
“What kind of bullshit is that?”
“Obviously none of your women have ever done that.”
“Of course not. I’m so good at it the last thing they’d want to do is deny themselves.”
She rolled her eyes, then went back to eating, deciding that boosting Nathan’s already overly healthy ego wasn’t on her agenda tonight.
“So how many clients—the ones you can talk about—do you have now?”
She thought about it. “Six.”
“That’s good considering you just started.”
She nodded. “I wanted to make sure to bring some on board beforehand. The Cassidy name definitely helped, and I’m not above using it to entice people in the door. And my brothers definitely helped me out by pushing some people in my direction so I could pitch to them. It’s what MHC can do for them once they get in the door that makes all the difference.”
He’d finished his steak, so he leaned back in his chair. “Okay, tell me.”
“Tell you what?”
“What MHC can do for me.”
She looked around. The restaurant was packed with people, and the ones nearest to them were only a couple of feet away. “I’m not going to do that here. It’s too noisy.”
“Fine. We’ll go back to my place.”
“The jail? No thanks. We’ll go to my place, have some wine and not talk business. I’m not giving you a sales pitch unless you come to my office.”
He studied her. “So you’re going to make MHC seem so enticing I won’t be able to help myself until I go there and hear what you have to say.”
“Exactly.”
“You know I’m immune to your considerable charm, Miss Cassidy.”
She batted her lashes at him. “Are you?”
He leveled a smirk at her. “At least business-wise.”
“Hmm. We’ll see.” She wasn’t sure why she was pushing this. It wasn’t like she wanted so desperately to have Nathan as a client. Having him at MHC could get sticky. Not that it wasn’t doable. Anything was doable. It would just be—complicated.
Once they finished eating, and they both declined dessert, their waiter brought the bill. Nathan started to grab the check but Mia insisted they split it.
“We’re not dating, remember?” she said. “So you don’t get to pay for my dinner.”
He shook his head. “Does everything have to be an argument with you?”
“We’re not arguing. We’re splitting the check.”
“Fine. Split the check.”
They each paid their portion, then they took the walk back to her town house. It had gotten cooler out. She was glad she’d brought a cardigan, which she pulled tighter around herself.