She glanced over her shoulder and caught his shocked eyes. “Oh, don’t give me that look. We will get along a whole lot better if you don’t pretend you don’t date often.”
Shock gave way to acceptance.
Mary turned back to her window. “Lying is a deal breaker, Glen. I think you should know that.”
“Then I won’t lie.”
She took in his chiseled jaw once again. “What about you? Any deal breakers?”
He opened his mouth—
“No, let me guess.”
He closed it.
“Users.”
He pointed one finger in the air and smiled.
The Top of the Mark sat on Nob Hill in the Mark Hopkins Hotel. The view of the city was remarkable. Other than a helicopter hovering over, this was the best view money could buy.
The lounge had a fair number of guests with an accomplished pianist entertaining the room.
The first course of their evening would take place here.
Glen requested a view of the Golden Gate Bridge and smiled as he sat across from Mary to enjoy it.
“Wow.”
“My favorite West Coast city,” Glen confessed.
“I can see why.”
“Don’t tell me this is your first time.”
Mary quickly shook her head. “No. There was a conference of therapists that brought me here a few years ago. I didn’t get out of the hotel much to explore the city, I’m afraid.”
He couldn’t help but wonder if the conference was held with a bunch of red sofas in the meeting halls instead of tables and chairs. Why he assumed every therapist had a red couch, he couldn’t say.
“That’s too bad. There are a lot of things to do here.”
They ordered more wine and a couple of appetizers.
“What do you do when you’re here?” she asked.
“Depends on the occasion and who I’m with.”
She questioned him with her eyes.
“My brother Jason and I are here a few times a year to check on our satellite office. There are usually dinners involved, sometimes a little elbow rubbing with certain business owners.”
“Define elbow rubbing,” she said while sipping her wine.
“Like the building we landed on in the business district. There is a bit of a war going on here when it comes to helicopter traffic. We try and have access to as many helipads as we can, which requires us to hold relationships with the owners of the buildings, sometimes the prominent tenants of those buildings. While Jason and I don’t actively look for people to use our service, it never hurts to have some of the top companies know what we can provide.”
“Putting a face to a name.”
“Exactly. Elbow rubbing can mean dinner, drinks, or rounds of golf.”
“Do you golf?”
“If you’re asking if I can hold a club and hit the ball, yes . . . if you are asking if that ball ever goes in a hole, then no.”
Mary’s chuckle started slow and built. “Let me guess, you’re good at basketball.”
“Now that ball I can dunk.” He joined her laughter. “Football on occasion.”
She shook her head. “I remember Thanksgiving. Halftime game in the yard and you all came in holding a body part and grabbing beer.”
“It is a contact sport. What about you . . . any sports?”
“My constant movement as a kid kept me away from anything formal in school. I always wanted to ice-skate, but there wasn’t a rink close by . . . and lessons were never going to happen.”
“What about as an adult, find anything you enjoy doing now?”
“I love the ocean, but I’ve never surfed. Swimming always energizes me. I don’t know . . . there are a lot of things out there I haven’t tried. Haven’t thought much about it.”
Glen wondered if there was anything out there he hadn’t tried. He suddenly felt very privileged.
“Do you like museums?”
Her eyes lit up. “Love them, you?”
“Nope . . . well, does the Hard Rock museum count?”
Her shoulders deflated a tad. “What about walking tours of a new city?”
“I don’t think I’ve done that.”
“New Orleans is on my bucket list. They have graveyard tours, ghost tours, Garden District tours.”
“Sounds like you’ve been there.”
“Nope. Bucket list. Dakota and I travel really well together. I usually scope out where her conferences are and plan a few things for us to do outside of her classes and signings.”
Glen didn’t see that staying the same now that Dakota had Walt and the two of them were recent parents.
“Do you both have a trip planned?”
Mary shook her head. “The spring conference happened last week. She obviously couldn’t go.”
“Let me guess, it was scheduled in New Orleans.”
A flash of disappointment crossed her eyes. “It will come around again. And if not, we can go another time, or I’ll find a way to go myself.”
He opened his mouth to offer to help and she put her index finger in the air. “No. Thanks, but no.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You were about to. And I would never take you up on it.”
We’ll see about that.
Glen went from supersnazzy, over-the-top fancy to Fisherman’s Wharf, where the two of them were entirely overdressed. But Mary loved it.
He pulled her into what looked like a fish and chips shack and said they were having another course there. “Best clam chowder in the city.”