“Okay,” Luke says after the waiter takes our orders to the kitchen, “now down to business.”
I force my most charming smile. “Of course. What do you need to know?”
“This app you’re developing.” He gives me a sharp look. “The one that’s supposed to ‘revolutionize’ healthcare. I want to know more.”
My eyes light up like they always do when I’m talking about my project. “Well, the idea is that your phone can be used to monitor your heart at all times. If somebody is having chest pain, they can know instantly if it’s something concerning. And—”
He holds up his hand. “Stop. I know what the app is supposed to do. I want numbers. Our data. Where are you in development? How long before you get this into beta testing? What sort of costs are we looking at?”
We spend the next hour talking about my app. Even though he was asking me for the numbers, he’s already got a lot of the data committed to memory. Even though he inherited his father’s company, he’s not riding on anyone else’s coattails. This guy does not mess around. No wonder he’s been so successful.
And he listens to me. He listens to everything I have to say very intently. His attention is completely focused on me, and it’s flattering. It almost makes me glad he came on board.
“This app is going to turn Mediapp into a household name,” I say.
Luke takes a sip of his wine. “Maybe.”
“I believe it will.”
He’s quiet for a moment. “We know what we are,” he says, “but not what we may be.”
All these years later and that bastard is still quoting Shakespeare. But this time I’m ready for him. “Hamlet.”
“Yeah.” He puts down his wine glass. “I didn’t think you would know that one.”
“Why not?”
He raises an eyebrow. “I don’t know. I thought you never read anything by Shakespeare before. Am I right?”
I suck in a breath. Oh my God. “You know…”
“Know what?” he asks innocently.
“That I’m…” I take a deep breath. “You know what I mean.”
His other eyebrow shoots up. “No. What do you mean?”
“That we…” I squeeze my napkin in my lap, feeling flustered. “That we know each other. Or knew each other.” My cheeks burn. “I mean, I didn’t know you remembered…”
“Ellie Jensen.” A smile plays on his lips. “Never read Shakespeare. Twelve fingers. Went to Canada once. How could I forget?”
“Oh God…” I shake my head. “So all along…?”
“Yes,” he confirms. “I knew the second I saw your name.”
I grit my teeth. “So how come you didn’t say anything?”
“Well, this was more fun, don’t you think?”
I feel a surge of anger in my chest. I had forgotten how much Luke used to infuriate me. I can’t believe he played me like that, just because he thought it was amusing.
“Uh oh.” He takes another sip of wine. He’s nearly drained the glass and it’s his second. “You’re mad at me.”
I quickly compose myself. This isn’t like back in college, when we were equals. I can’t afford to lose my temper around him. Too many people’s jobs are depending on me. “I’m not mad.”
“Yes, you are.” There’s a glint in his brown eyes—it kills me how sexy he still is. “I could always tell when I was getting you angry. I used to lie in bed awake the night before class every day, trying to think of what I could say to rile you up.”
I stare at him. “You… you did?”
“Of course I did,” he says. “Arguing with you was the best part of my week.” He sees the look on my face and smirks. “Don’t look so surprised, Ellie. I already told you how I felt about you.”
I don’t know what to say to that. He did tell me how he felt about me. It’s a night I haven’t thought about in a very long time, but somehow, I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately.
That night. The night I became the only girl at Harvard to say no to Luke Thayer.
I wonder if women say no to him now. After all, he doesn’t look the way he used to. But he’s still so freaking sexy. And he’s loaded.
“So now that everything is on the table…” His smile widens enough to nearly reach his eyes. “We can finally catch up. How are you doing, Ellie? What’s new with you these last sixteen years?”
“Um…” I tug at my dangly earring. “Well, I…” My mouth opens, but I’m at a loss. Usually, when I run into people from my past, I talk about my job. But Luke knows all about my job. And besides that, there’s not much else to say.
“Married?” he asks, even though he can see from my ring finger that I’m not.
I shake my head. “No, but… I have a boyfriend.”
I don’t have a boyfriend. Not even close. I don’t even have a boy that I’m friends with, much less an actual boyfriend. The closest I’ve come in the last year is this guy who accidentally brushed his elbow against my boob on the T. But I hate the fact that I have nothing new about my life to report.
So I made up a boyfriend. Big deal.
Surprise registers on Luke’s face. “Oh?” he says. “Is it serious?”
Why not go for broke? “Yes, it’s pretty serious.”
“Good for you,” Luke says. “What’s his name?”
His name? Um… “His name is Mike.”
“Mike,” Luke repeats. He looks up at my eyes. His are possibly his best feature, although it’s a tough call. “Well, I’d love to have you and Mike over for dinner.”
“That would be great,” I lie.
Please don’t let him ever take us up on this dinner invitation.
“How about you?” I ask, desperate to change the subject from my fake boyfriend. “What’s new with you?”
He shifts his weight in his chair. “Oh, not very much. Same old.”
Is he kidding me? The guy can’t walk anymore. He’s not going to tell me anything about why? He’s just going to pretend this huge thing hasn’t happened?
Well, fine. If he’s going to pretend, I’ll play along. “Well, sometimes it’s good when things are uneventful.”
Luke bursts out laughing, and he suddenly looks so much like the kid I knew during freshman year, I get a pang in my chest. “Look at you. You’re dying to know, but you’re too scared to ask. You’re so freaking polite.”
My lips set into a straight line. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He grins and shrugs. “Fine. Then I won’t tell you.”
I’m starting to long for the cold, distant Luke from a few minutes ago. I had forgotten how frustrating he was. “You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to. You’re the boss, after all.”
The smile fades slowly from his lips. “I was in a rock-climbing accident when I was twenty-three. Broke my neck.”
Twenty-three. That means he’s been in that chair for eleven years. No wonder he looks so comfortable in it. His disability is new to me, but not to him.