“That’s good to know,” Roman chuckled when Abigail said she liked how unpredictable he was. “I’ll do my best to keep you on your toes.” He shot her a coy wink and then dug into the food she had prepared. Bringing a forkful to his mouth, he chewed slowly as she went on to give him a brief explanation of her parents’ work and her life traveling abroad. He found it interesting that she had been born in Japan and moved to her family’s home country later on, and he wondered offhandedly if she had dual citizenship in both nations. Not being familiar with the laws in Japan, he was curious how that worked.

When she asked him his option of the dinner she had cooked, he nodded enthusiastically. “It’s great. I haven’t had chicken this good in a long time. You’re quite the talented chef, Abby.” As if to prove his point, he popped another bite of food into his mouth. He chased it with the water she had brought and then leaned back in his chair to meet her gaze across the table as he contemplated what to share with her about himself. It wasn’t that he was a particularly reserved person, but he wanted to choose information that would keep her interested so she would want to go on a third date with him.

“You know, it’s funny that you mention you were born in another country,” he said after a moment’s pause. “I’m actually from Brazil, myself, although you might not be able to tell. I’ve been told I don’t have much of an accent anymore.” He smiled proudly, recalling how he had worked hard to master English when he had been younger so American businessmen would take him seriously. Being fluent in the language had come in handy as he rose through the ranks of P.H. Co.

He went on, “I came to this country on a work visa when I was twenty, and applied for my EB-1A after three years of being employed at Precision Horizons—they manufacture and sell security tech to businesses in New York. The EB-1A, if you don’t already know, is a green card for immigrants with ‘extraordinary abilities.’ Basically, it just means I excelled at my field enough to be allowed to stay in the country.” He shrugged casually. “As long as I keep working in marketing and sales, I can’t be deported, and I’ll be able to make a living for myself in America. It’s a pretty sweet deal.”

Roman leaned forward again to take another bite of chicken before going on to ask, “So, how did you end up in the Big Apple if your family travels so much?”