Surprises
"I build mineral mines." He smiled at her and wiped a bit of creme from the corner of his mouth with a practiced motion of his napkin.
"Oh. I see."
He enjoyed the faint blush on her cheeks but didn’t draw attention to the fact that he saw. Instead, he gave her bits more of information. "I think I've a candidate for the location.. Have you heard of the Vale?"
"Sorry, I'm not familiar with that," she told him with the merest shake of her head.
"Owned by a man named Raven, to my understanding."
"Hmmm.... There are alot of Raven's in this town. :" She furrowed her brown and chuckled in a low tone. She waited, picked up half her broken eclair to take a bite.
"Raven the Ace of Swords, I think they call him.. " Ethan looked thoughtful. "I haven't made the deal yet, but I expect no problems." He wasn’t boasting, but it was true that he usually got what he wanted. He took another bite, small enough to talk around if need be and watched her.
Bria nodded her understanding and as she chewed she slurpped a little on the filling to avoid dripping it down her shirt once it was freed from it’s delicate crust.
Ethan was watching too closely for his own good. He swallowed hard at the sound of the slurp. He choked slightly, set the eclair down and covered his mouth with this napkin. His eyes watered just a little. Bria didn’t help his distraction by leaning over the table to ask if he was okay. His eyes lingered on her as she leaned and a tear formed at the corner of one of his expressive pale blue eyes. "Good God," he murmured. "Yes, I’m .. fine." He took a sip of champagne.
"Maybe it just went down the wrong pipe?"
"Yes," he answered. "Something like that." What a lovely form, he thought, eyeing her white cotton henley as it pulled taut across her chest.
"You’re sure you're OK?" She eyed him, not leaning back.
He coughed softly, setting down his napkin. As he took a deeper draught from the flute of sparkling beverage, he found himself staring all too plainly at her blouse. "Oh yes. I’m fine." He blinked several times.
With the sudden realization where his eyes were staring, Bria turned crimson all the way to the roots of her hair. Ethan thought it was adorable. She looked down, and slid back into her chair with a loud thunk, trying to hide her form by hunching her shoulders forward a bit.
"Raven's a good man," she said, trying to change the subject. "I haven't heard any thing horrendous about him." She quickly picked up her glass, unconsciously flicked her tongue against the lip before she took a sip.
"You're a bit of OK yourself, milady Thorne." He held the flute in his hand and gestured with it slightly. "And that... that thing you do with your tongue..."
She swallowed the milk, set her glass down in surprise, her blue eyes flickering back and forth between her glass and his pale orbs. "Hmmmm??"
"It's just too adorable.. you're very fetching you know."
She was very flushed and ran her fingers through her hair. Clearly she was at a loss for something to say. In the silence he refilled his flute, the golden liquid tumbling through the air and making a warm whooshing sound as the bubbles formed from the carbonation.
"I umm... I don't understand."
He watched her, not surprised, but inordinately pleased. He stopped pouring at just the right moment, his eyes never leaving her face. "That's all right .. that makes it even more perfect. By the way.. My name is Ethan. Ethan Swan."
"So, you said you saw my card somewhere?"