A Dream to be Loved Kandi Jaynes Read Online Free PDF

man. Kate kept repeating the phrase in her head as she walked to the car. Drake opened the door for her. She watched as he walked around and slid behind the wheel. He didn't speak until they were out on the road. "I don't really know many places around here yet, but Bill suggested we try the Lakeside Chalet. He said they have good food and it's quiet so we can talk."
    Kate started to get an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She knew the restaurant, it was known for its fabulous cuisine and intimate atmosphere. The kind of place couples went for a romantic evening, not business dinners. Drake, of course, wouldn't know that, but she thought Bill would have.
    Kate swallowed hard. "How many people are going to be there?"
    "Didn't Bill tell you? I decided to talk to everyone individually. I find people are often more candid one on one than they are in a group of their peers. So it will just be the two of us this evening."
    Don't hyperventilate, don't hyperventilate, don't hyperventilate , her mind chanted as she concentrated on taking long slow breaths.
    When they entered the restaurant, she made her excuses and went to the ladies room. She looked in the mirror and berated herself. "Calm down. There is no reason to be this nervous. He's just a man." She took three slow, deep breaths. "Pull yourself together and be professional. This is a business dinner." After three more deep breaths, she felt better. Now that she was past the shock of the situation she felt like she could get through the rest of the evening. She wished she could figure out what it was about this man that had her strung so tight. She didn't think it was his position in the company. She frequently talked to the president and the other two VP's without reacting like this.
     
    *****
     
    While Drake waited for her, he couldn't believe he finally had her all to himself. He had purposely avoided her all week, having too much work to get done to be distracted. And she was defiantly a distraction. It had been hard to keep his mind on his job just knowing she was in the same building.
    He would have to be sure and thank Bill again for suggesting this dinner. He knew Kate thought this was strictly a business dinner. Although he did have some tooling questions for her, he saw no reason for the entire evening to revolve around work. There were too many other things he wanted to know about her. Such as, what she liked to do for fun, how she spent her evenings, what were her plans for the future, was her hair as silky as it looked, were her lips as soft as he imagined...
    She emerged from the hallway then, and they were shown to a quiet corner table overlooking the lake. The lighting was soft and low. A small candle flickered between them. Drake thought it was perfect.
    She wasn't as fidgety as she had been, but wasn't completely at ease either.
    "Is something wrong?"
    "No. I'm sorry, this is just a little strange for me. I don't normally do business dinners. This isn't exactly what I was expecting."
    Drake smiled. "I get tired of stuffy offices and drab conference rooms. I thought this would be more enjoyable. We can discuss work over a nice meal in a relaxing atmosphere." He picked up his menu and browsed through it. "So what looks good to you?"
    Kate hid behind the menu. "I can't decide between the grilled salmon or the peppercorn steak. Both sound really good." She decided on the steak. Drake ordered the Prime rib.
    During the meal, Drake gently probed her for personal information. Finding out how long she had worked at Denetech, where she grew up, about the friends he had met. He would occasionally volunteer information about himself trying to keep the conversation casual. When he asked about her house her face softened, and for the first time that evening she relaxed and spoke freely. She told him what she went through to be able to get it. How hard she had worked and how long it had taken. About how wonderful it was when she finally achieved her goal.
    "You