“It was ranked the best Thai restaurant in the state last year. I was shocked I could get reservations so last-minute.”
Eden stopped unfolding her cloth napkin halfway through pulling it into her lap. “Really?” She had shed her coat and left it on the back of her seat, and all Benson could do was stare at her arms, her cleavage, her face. All three unsettled his stomach in that earnest way of a man falling in love.Down, boy.Just because Eden was a fantastic plaything on a pleasure island didn’t mean she was perfect girlfriend material.Keep it in my pants long enough to find out, huh?
“I recommend the pumpkin curry. They have it year-round here.”
“Maybe I’ll try that. I admit, outside of pad thai and fried rice, I don’t know much about Thai cuisine.”
“Well, those are two important basics. The tom kha gai soup is also great. Honestly, anything coconut-based is good.”
Eden finished settling in and picked up her menu. “I see. What do you usually get?”
“The red curry with chicken. Super simple, but there’s something about their recipe that’s very decadent. Clean, too.”
“Decadent and clean? Interesting.”
“I know.”
She went back to looking at the menu before peering at him as the waiter returned with their drinks. “Can we get the spring rolls?” she timidly asked, the first sign that she wasn’t all bluster that night.
“We can get whatever you desire.”
“Okay, but I can’t eat all four. I’ll need help.”
He agreed to help her eat them.Even if I can’t, she can have the leftovers.Benson wasn’t as into fried food. Not since his father developed – and survived – colon cancer ten years ago.Still alive. Still driving my mother nuts.
Benson ordered his red curry with chicken, and Eden said she’d try the pumpkin after his recommendation. Unlike him, she got hers vegetarian style with extra garden staples. Once the owner’s nephew was gone again, Benson and Eden faced each other while a candle flame flickered between them.
“So,” Eden began.
“So,” he concluded.
That was the extent of the conversation while Eden’s gaze wandered toward the décor, and Benson sniffed the rum in his drink.Rum. Why did I get rum?Was it because Eden reminded him of the Caribbean? Of what he drank the last time they were together there?Or maybe I just like rum.There were worse liquors.
“I know two things about you,” she said, steepling her fingers together to point them in his direction. “First, you’re an investment advisor. Second, you have a daughter who goes to Brown. Like you did.”
He couldn’t help himself. “Financial advisor.”
“Huh?”
“I’m specifically a financial advisor.”
“What’s the difference?”
He took his cue to put his own napkin in his lap. “I don’t just advise about investments to people, although that is something I can do. It’s just not my specialty. Instead, I’m a big picture personal finance guy. I help people who either have or come into larger sums of money decide what to do with it. From structuring debt payments to savings accounts, Roth IRAs, taxes… and, yes, stocks and such. Usually, I have clients who want to invest in a friend’s business or whatever, and it’s my job to tell them that’s incredibly dumb, but if they insist, here’s how much they can afford to lose. A percentage. A solid figure. Whatever keeps them from collapsing like a house of cards.”
“Right. Which is why my friend referred me to you guys.”
“Serendipitous of them.”
“Surely.” Eden nervously played with a simple red ring on her middle finger. “Is that what you went to school for?”
“Yes. Although I minored in Sociology.”
“Really? Huh.”
“What?”
She shrugged. “You just don’t strike me as a humanities guy.”