"What can I do for you..."

"You can just call me Alistair. I'm not here on business." He replied with a charming grin.

That explained why I thought his name had been Star, but my face flamed with embarrassment at my drunken mistake regardless. I can't remember the last time I held myself so improperly. I was supposed to be an accomplished business woman, but instead, I was a stumbling drunk at my own event, making a fool of myself in front of this handsome man.

"Well, if you aren't here on business, then what are you here for?" I asked, feeling the knot in my stomach ease. Knowing that he wasn't here to bring me more bad news about my home helped me relax. Though things were not great at least they were not actively getting worse.

"I enjoyed your company at the gala." He stated boldly, those bright eyes sparkling with something that I wasn't able to read. "I know that it's not tremendously professional of me, but I would like to spend more time with you."

"For what?" I blurted stupidly. But I could feel my heart rate accelerating in my chest. I just wasn't sure if it was because I was terrified of his suggestion or delighted by it.

He shrugged casually, unfazed by my awkwardness. "How about we just spend a few hours together and see where it takes us?" he offered.

"What do you suggest we do?" I pressed, feeling the butterflies come alive in my stomach. It had been so long since any man had shown interest in me, much longer since a handsome, clean cut man had. But despite all this, I was still to hesitant to just dive in. I had been burned so badly the last time. A man very similar to him had left me with scars that could never be erased from my body or my soul.

Alistair didn't see that, he didn't know what I had been through. To him, I was just a woman who had worn a revealing dress and danced the night away with him while others watched. He smiled brighter, like he was expecting me to ask him that. "I was thinking that we could wander around the halls of National Art Gallery. It's one of my favorite places in the city." He murmured, the suggestion sounding too perfect to my own ears.

I knew very little about art, and unlike other wealthy people, I didn't pretend to know, but the gallery was incredible and it had been ages since I had been there, despite how much I loved it. When I first moved here with Sophie I used to buy coffee and wander up and down the halls for hours as it was the most pleasant way to kill time before I had any work. I had always wanted to share those quiet, thoughtful moments with someone, but I had assumed it would never happen.

"It's like you read my mind." I breathed back.

Sophie laughed in delight when I told her the news a few hours later. But then her face fell with intense seriousness as she told me nothing that I owned was nice enough for a date. Pencil skirts and frilly blouses were great for the office, but if I was going to sway a high class man I needed something more sexy and playful than a white button up and black dress pants. She rolled her eyes at every single one of my conservative suggestions and nearly forced me to go shopping with her on Friday. I felt tremendously silly in the clothing she picked out for me, but she refused to let me stick with my safe, matronly options. So I ended up in the middle of the entrance wearing a brand new pair of skinny jeans, a low cut white tee shirt and a chic leather jacket that hugged me just right, making me look classy and edgy all at once. I fiddled with the short, rose gold necklace that sat at the base of my throat, watching Sophie float around the gallery with her new girlfriend in tow.

I had felt like I was using a crutch when Sophie had offered to tag along, suggesting that she and her girlfriend would float around at a safe distance to make me feel safer. I had denied at first, but then leapt at the idea, realizing that I didn't know this man at all and things could go sideways very quickly. Maybe his intentions were less than pure and I had distanced myself so aggressively from any men at all that I had no idea how to handle a bad date anymore. Plus, we hadn't exchanged numbers the day he had come into my office and Sophie would at least be a guaranteed ride home. And with every passing second I debated waving Sophie over and telling her that this had been a foolish idea and I wanted to go home. What was I doing anyway? Did I really think that going on a date with a government agent was a wise idea? Was this even a date?

"Hey." Alistair's low voice snapped me out of my trance. I let go off my necklace and shot him a smile I thought was enthusiastic, but not too enthusiastic. I didn't want him thinking I was desperate, but I was too excited and too nervous to play it off as casually as I would've liked. I probably looked like a goon.

"Hi." I replied, my voice soft.

He didn't say another word. He gave me a lopsided smile and nodded his head towards the first exhibits. We progressed slowly, going up the stairs and working our through the Canadian indigenous art first. I expected to catch him looking bored or agitated at all the people swarming around him. I thought he would pretend to inspect the art when he thought I was paying attention then quickly look away after he thought I had my focus on something else. But he seemed just as engaged in the art I was and he floored me completely when he came across a beaded and braided sash. There, he carefully placed his hand against the small of my back, pulled me closer and whispered the use of the sash in my ear as others stirred around us. The gesture was not a large one, but it felt oddly intimate to be so close to him, to have him gently guide me and be explaining the art to me.

But his hand eventually fell away and we progressed into contemporary art, Sophie still hovering around with her girlfriend looking bored and disgruntled. I was about to shoot her a grateful smile, but caught myself before I blew my cover, wandering behind Alistair as he took his time examining different pieces. He seemed to be more captivated by what he was looking at than I was, but then I would catch those green eyes sliding over my body approvingly and my heart would pound with excited fear.

Three hours later my feet were aching, but I still happily when Alistair suggested we get coffee instead of leaving immediately. A second later I regretted it because I saw Sophie's girlfriend groan in agitation as they sat down across the café.

"So what made you come into my office this week?" I asked boldly, sitting down at the small table with my steamed milk. I tried to be confident and meet his eyes, but I just stared down at the table instead, feeling like a shy school girl all over again.

Alistair grinned broadly at my question. "Well, I was very curious about you."

"I'm not that interesting."

"Really? A very young woman opens up a massive pigging company, seemingly overnight. Then she plans an entire gala, but refuses to host it, not taking any credit for the whole thing but doing all of the work behind it. So somehow, you are the perfect mix of both beauty and brains because you looked stunning at the gala, but you look just as good in an art gallery and you're not just here to take a selfie or impress me." He stated.

"How do you know I'm not here to impress you?" I demanded, but I was unable to stop the smile or the blush that resulted from his kind words. "And maybe I took a couple quick pictures of myself without you noticing."

"You didn't."

"You can't be sure."

"Of course I can. Just like I'm sure that you brought those two girls along with you, just in case."

My mouth fell open in shock and I tried to stammer out an excuse, an explanation, anything that would make me look less awful. But I had nothing valid to say and my cheeks just turned bright red when I gave up and shrugged my shoulders helplessly, caught.

"Don't worry, I understand. And it wasn't that obvious." He assured, leaning back in his chair with a cocky smile.

"Then how did you figure it out?" I asked.

He just laughed and shook his head slightly, "I wouldn't be very good at my job if I didn't notice them, but I can assure you that a normal guy probably wouldn't even bat an eye. Anyway, that's not important; I want to get to know you before I scare you away."

"You aren't scaring me away." I replied softly, cocking my head to one side. "If anything you're making me more curious."

"What made you get into pigging? What made you want to get into the oilfield business? I mean, it's clear there's money in it and I understand that. But I don't think it's the first thing that most women your age think of getting into when they start up a business. Why not go into something different?" The sudden flurry of questions that left his mouth distracted me from the ones I was about to ask.

"I just understand the pipelines quite well. But pipelines aren't nearly as bad or as damaging to the environment if they are maintained properly or cleaned. Pigging allows this to happen without shutting down the pipeline. I was just lucky that I knew enough about it and spotted good people with impressive business sense and wonderful ideas." I explained. "But pipelines aren't very exciting unless you're passionate about them. So tell me about your work."

"I can't tell you a tremendous amount about my work." He answered cryptically.

"Oh? But you can barge into my house, appear at my gala, and then swoop into my office to offer me a date?" I challenged playfully.

"Yes," he suddenly became more engaged and less casual, sitting up closer to me, leaning over the table, "I was a first responder to the break in due to the lack of police officers in the area. Then my some of my co-workers had tickets to your gala, but one wasn't able to make it. I had no idea you had planned it, but I noticed all those people discretely congratulating you and I began piecing it all together." He gave me a casual shrug. "And after dancing with you I knew that I had to get to know you more."

"And what do you think of me so far?" I blurted, then realized the magnitude of what I had asked. I resisted the urge to cover my mouth in shock and embarrassment.

"You're beyond anything I ever imagined."