Of Flowers and Wine

“How is it going?”, Beatriz asked as soon as Ana answered the phone, voiced laced with curiosity and expectation.

Sighing, Ana let her elbow rest on the terrace's parapet, eyes gazing over a London bathed in orange and pink hues. The city was breathtaking during the sunset. The high-rises reaching for the sky and reflecting its light, the London Eye pulsing with bright colors, St. Paul’s forever stoic and the Thames’ dark waters cutting the metropolis like an enormous snake.

“I don’t want to talk about it”, the brunette said, turning her back to the majestic scenery and fighting a smile. The was a stilted intake of breath on the other side of the call. “I can hear you laughing inside your head, Bea. Let it out…”

This whole date had been Beatriz’s idea, after all. Well, not exactly her idea, but she had supported it when the invitation arrived with a bouquet of white camellias, blue salvias and fennel.

‘Dear Miss Ana,

It would be my utmost pleasure to treat you to a fine dinner and good wine.

I leave the date to your choice, just let me know when and it will be arranged.

Yours,

Lee’

Ana had positively snorted at the message, already deciding to ignore it. She had so much to do, so many things to find in the next days, that any time off she wanted to spend sleeping or with her family. Besides, she didn’t do dinner, lunch nor breakfast with clients – unless it was a business meeting. It could reflect poorly on her. So, she had decided to let it go and slip the flowers to Beatriz as if she had picked them up herself or being gifted by one of her brothers.

To her (bad) luck, Beatriz knew a lot about flowers and their language. White camellias meant ‘You’re adorable’, blue salvias said that the sender was thinking of the person that received them, and fennel was to indicate flattery. Beatriz knew there was no way Ana had picked those flowers, nor been given them by one of her brothers. They were too specific, too on point.

One look from her best friend had Ana spilling the truth.

It had taken Beatriz two days to convince her to accept the invitation. She was going to be in London by the end of the week to deliver a long-lost family heirloom to Lord Bankes, why not have some expensive food paid by Mr. Lee?

They even had planned a failsafe. Beatriz was going to call half an hour into the date and if Ana said the safe word, Bea would invent some kind of emergency to help Ana jump ship.

Which was the reason for Ana to be outside on the terrace instead of inside with her date.

Date… Heavens, it had been ages since she had one of those, even longer since she had gone to a first date.

“I didn’t say a word!”, her friend’s mirthful voice brought Ana back to the moment. “That good, uhn? So, I don’t need to pretend there is an emergency going on to take you out of there?”, Beatriz asked just to be sure.

“No, it’s all good”, Ana said with a barely contained smirk.

“Of course, it is all good!”, there was a huff over the line. “He brought you to have dinner in one of the most prestigious hotels in London, Ana. In the Royal Penthouse, if your last SMS is anything to go by. Did you know one night there is more than twenty thousand pounds? One night!”, Beatriz was almost breathless. Leave it to her to research everything about the place. “I know he is rich, but that is a damn statement, girl.”

Ana almost laughed at that, because it totally was a statement. In her business encounters with Lee and Somerset, the finder had learnt there were few things they did just for the sake of doing. There was always an assertion behind their actions. All of them were a testament to the power brandished by the enigmatic Mr. Lee.

The whole set up screamed of power and knowledge. He knew his flowers, he knew his food, he knew his wine. He seemed to know her too.

The food was amazing. Ana hadn’t had a ribeye so well-seasoned and cooked in the city since, well, since ever. The cheesy baked asparagus had made her swoon. And, when she had asked how he knew her preference for a well-done steak, Lee had only smiled and said he had a hunch about it.

And the wine… When she had first tasted her glass of Merlot, Ana was sure he had found a way inside her head. Smooth and velvety, brimming with the aroma of plum, raspberry and black cherry. There was dark chocolate there too. She had no idea how he could have known she would like something so specific, but he had that lopsided smirk on his full lips and his brown eyes were staring knowingly at her over the rim of his own glass.

The absolute bastard. He knew she would like it and he wasn’t shy about showing it. In that moment, Ana hadn’t known if she wanted to rip that smile off his mouth by punching him on the chin, or by kissing him silly.

Then, Beatriz had called. Her phone had snapped her mind back in place, even if for a moment. She had excused herself, steak unfinished and glass of wine forgotten. He had given her a quick tour through the terrace when she had arrived, so Ana thought it was the perfect place to escape to and take the call.

Spring had started over a month ago, but the air was still chilly, and goosebumps had filled Ana’s skin. Still, she felt warm all over while talking with her friend.

“Ana, you will tell me everything the moment you get home. And I mean every-thing”, Beatriz said, separating the word for emphasis. Ana could hear how ecstatic she was, which almost made the finder grumble. “Zach will love this!”, her friend squeaked, full on fangirling. “Have fun, dear!”

“Oh, no. Don’t you dare tell Z-”, the line went dead before Ana could finish, and she would have gritted her teeth if Lee hadn’t passed through the doors with two glasses of Merlot in hand.

“Crisis averted?”, he asked while handing her one of the glasses, putting his own on the parapet.

“Yep”, she said taking a sip of the wine. She would have to take another look at the bottle to buy it later – that is, if it didn’t cost more than twenty pounds, which she bet it did.

He smiled, shrugging off his jacket and putting it over Ana’s shoulders in one fluid motion, hands heavy and firm on her shoulders. He was practiced in doing that and Ana was sure many women had felt the warmth she did now, but she didn’t really care.

“So, I reckon this date is being an extreme success”, Lee said with his branded smirk in place.

He had no business being so damn sexy.

“Don’t flatter yourself”, she rebuked him, eyes rolling.

Lee chuckled, the sound husky, his eyes bright. He was insufferable. But, when he bent down and kissed her, Ana didn’t complain.