A/N Thanls for your reviews. I'm glad you're enjoying the story! :)
"Sophie! Karen!" a woman shouted from the crowd waving her hand up.
Karen smiled and rushed to her to give her a big hug. "Mom!"
"Hi, baby!" she separated from her daughter, just to hold her face in her hands. "Did you have fun with your aunt?"
"Yes, I love America. The cities are so alive. New York is incredible, Washington, Boston, L.A. …. It was a great holiday." She rambled.
"Okay," she chuckled "I see you've had fun!" she turned towards her sister "Hi, Sophie. That's still your name for now, right? You change it often enough"
Sophie rolled her eyes. "Hi Eleanor!"
They've started walking towards the exit of the airport "Is something interesting going on in your life? Apart from the latest painting you've stolen?"
"Don't know what you're talking about" Sophie tried to ignore her sister.
"Oh please, it's all over the newspaper and the theft has your name all over it. I thought I've told you not to steal while Karen is with you!" They arrived at her car and she furiously opened it.
"It's not like I took her with me!" Sophie pointed out.
"Aunt Sophie has met someone" Karen tried to distract her mother from the fighting it was about to happen.
Eleanor stopped startled. "What?"
"She's got a date!" the teenager gave Sophie a teasing smile.
"I still haven't told him where and when…" she waved off.
"Who is he? What does he do?" she asked eagerly. Eleanor loved gossip.
"I don't know" Sophie simply shrugged.
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"We've bumped into each other in the art gallery. I gave him my phone number and the next day he called me. I'm going to send him a text when I go back with the details of the date"
"I thought the idea was to stay far away from the city you've just stolen a painting from"
Sophie looked down sheepishly "Yes… well…"
"She is in love!" Karen teased her again.
"I'm not in love!" Sophie soon shouted back.
"Oh my God, she is" her mother agreed. "You know nothing about this guy"
"I… I just felt a connection with him. I don't know how to explain it." She was now embarrassed. This was not her. Sophie Devereaux didn't fall in love for mysterious men, it was actually the other way around. "I do know something about him. His name is Nathan Ford, he is divorced and he has a five years old son."
"Oh, oh!" he sister exclaimed.
"What?"
"You don't want to get yourself involved with a divorcee with a child. They usually want commitment or no commitment at all. It depends if his divorce is recent or not"
Sophie looked at her with her mouth open. She gasped. "I… look. I haven't even gone out on a first date with him. I'm going back to L.A. in a couple days and I'm going out with him. That's final!"
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Nate was pacing nervously in front of the restaurant. He was fighting the impulse to look at his watch. After three days without hearing from her, he admitted he thought she was never going to call. But then the text arrived telling him to wait for her in front Alfonso's restaurant at 7.30 pm in two days. So here he was. Not that he had been thinking about her all the time. This insane task of finding this mysterious thief kept him busy.
"Nate?"
He quickly turned around towards the voice. He gasped. She was more magnificent than how he remembered. Her green dress accentuated the right curves of her body and she was surrounded by this light, it was like an aura.
"Hi" he finally managed to say.
Sophie smirked knowingly. "Hello" She hadn't been unaffected by his appearance either. That scruffy and sexy man she met at the art gallery cleaned nicely too. She slowly approached him and gave him a small peck on the cheek.
Nate immediately blushed but he managed to give her the corsage in his hands. "This is for you"
"Thanks" she took the white flower out from its box . "Could you?" she hold it for him.
"Sure" and he slowly pinned the flower on her dress, being sure not to touch her inappropriately.
"Let's go in then"
Nate opened the door for her and guided her inside with a hand on the small of her back. They were seated immediately and after ordering a bottle of wine and the house specialty, they were left alone.
"So…" Nate said hesitantly.
"So" she smiled at him.
He gave a nervous chuckled. "It's been a long time since I were on a date"
"How long?" she tried to encourage him to open up.
"Well, I've been divorced for two years and since then I haven't gone out with anyone" he admitted nervously.
"Well I'm flattered that I'm the first one to bring you out of your shell!" she smirked and took a sip of her drink. "How long have you been married for?"
"Six years"
"How come it didn't work out?" she curiously asked.
"Apparently I'm a workaholic!" he joked. "Let' just say we slowly fall out of love. But we're still good friends. That's good for Sam"
"Sam is your little boy, isn't he? He's so cute"
"Yeah, he has just started going to school recently and now he always wants to talk about what he has learned at school " She saw his eyes lit up while he was talking about his son. She instantly knew that he was a good father.
The waiter arrived with their food. "So, tell me something about you?" he asked her before trying the pasta.
Ah, the question she was afraid of. What should she tell him. "What do you want to know?"
"Well, you're obviously not from here. But it's strange. You have a French name, but your accent his British."
"You're good. Yes, I'm from London. That's where I were these days."
"Where your sister lives?"
"Yeah, Eleanor and Karen. She is raising her daughter alone, so I sometimes have Karen with me and take her to visit places."
"You travel a lot? What do you do?"
Sophie cringed inside. This is the part of a date she hated the most. She couldn't really tell him what she did, so she had to lie. "I invest here and there. I was fortunate to inherit a small fortune, so…. But I would love to act. I've acted in small parts in theatrical plays."
"Really?"
"Hmmm…" she nodded.
"That's great. I would love to see you act."
She blushed. "Maybe my next play."
The waiter came back to take their plates. "Would you like some dessert?"
"How about we have something outside?" Nate suggested.
"Sure"
So Nate paid the bill while Sophie went to the restroom.
"I'm ready" They went outside.
"There's an ice-cream parlor inside the park that makes fantastic desserts" Nate told her while the crossed the street and went inside the park.
"Really? I've never heard of it. I don't know L.A. very much other that Hollywood and the shopping streets"
"Oh believe me, you will not regret it"
They walked in silent enjoying each other's company. Sophie had an arm around his and she sometimes laid her head on his shoulder. There was a slightly breeze and Nate saw her shivering. He quickly put his jacket around her.
"Thanks" she smiled.
They arrived at the parlor and Sophie gasped once she saw the incredible variety of desserts "Wow, it will be difficult to choose"
Nate smirked. "Well, first of all. Would you like an ice-cream or a piece of cake?"
"Hmm… That chocolate fudge cake looks nice, but I would love to try their ice-cream."
"may I help you?" the assistant asked them.
"Yes, I will have a piece of chocolate fudge cake and the lovely lady with me will have…"
"A summer fruits and orange merengue ice-cream"
Nate paid for their orders and they sat at a booth in the corner.
"This way you can try both" Nate cut a small piece of cake and brought the fork to her lips.
She seductively took the bite while keeping her eyes locked with his. "Hmm… it's delicious. Would you like to try mine?"
Nate still had his mouth opened still mesmerized by the scene "I… sure…." He stammered
This time it was her that brought a spoon full of ice-cream to his lips. Nate gulped and ate the ice-cream.
She smiled taking another bit of ice-cream and licking the spoon. "You know, you still haven't told me what you to do for living?"
"Oh, I work of an insurance company" he answered vaguely.
Alarm bells started ringing in Sophie's head, but she decided to ignore them. Working for an insurance company didn't actually mean he was in her line of …business.
They finished their desserts talking about anything. Soon it was time to end their date. Nate walked her to a taxi stop.
"So…" he started.
"I really had a great evening" she told him laying a hand on his chest, before handing him his jacket back.
"Me too." He smiled.
"I would love to do this again soon, but unfortunately I'm leaving town again for another few days."
"Is that a nice excuse for letting me down gently?" he asked unsure.
Sophie put her arms around his neck and brought his head down to kiss him ardently. "Does that feel like I don't want to see you again?"
He gulped embarrassed, "Yeah, that was pretty convincing, but I think I've still got some doubts" he smirked and this time it was him that initiated their second kiss.
After they broke up for air Sophie smiled with her eyes closed, still savoring the taste of his lips. "That was good, that was really good" she slowly opened her eyes.
"Yeah," he looked away sheepishly "Humm… I should probably let you go" he opened the taxi door for her. "Send me a text to let me know that you've arrived at home okay"
"Sure, my white knight" she patted his arm.
"So, I'll be waiting for your call when you get back"
"Of course. Good night Nate" she got in the taxi.
"Good night" he closed the door and watched the car drive off.
He was still standing staring when his phone rang. "Yes?" he answered hoping that it was her already.
"Nathan" unfortunately it was Ian Blackpoole "We've got a plan to catch out thief. I need you to pack your bags and come in the office early in the morning"