“Yes, we had one no show.”
“Perfect, I can just take that spot,” I said smoothly.
“What about your friend?” she asked.
“Well, you don’t have a match here, do you? I can pair up with you,” Damon offered.
Just one more reason why he’s the best.
She looked flustered at that. I guessed she was just barely drinking age and attention from the guy who’d won best looking in our high school yearbook was probably disconcerting. We had a good ten years on her.
Not that there was anything wrong with that, I thought as I searched the room and found the woman who was ten years my senior and currently the star of all my daydreams.
“I don’t know…”
“Come on, Dana,” Damon cajoled. “It’ll be fun.”
I looked down to see she was, in fact, wearing a name tag and saw by her expression she was ready to cave.
“We won’t tell anyone if you don’t,” I offered.
“Okay, go on in,” Dana said, finally stepping aside.
I made a beeline for Whitney and her blonde friend, who were standing off to the side, not yet engaging with anyone. Her friend stiffened and her eyes widened when she saw me coming and pleasure ran through me when I realized she knew who I was.
Whitney’s been talking about me.
I put a finger to my lips and the blonde nodded, then I stepped up behind Whitney and said, “Excuse me, Ms. Spaulding.”
Eleven
Whitney
This cannot be happening.
I braced myself as I turned, knowing who I would find behind me, even if I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why he was here.
As always, the first look at him sent a jolt of awareness through me. I’m beginning to enjoy that jolt. And although I was surprised by his presence, I took a moment to look him over. I’d never seen him dressed so casually before, in jeans and a V-neck, but I had to admit, it was a really good look.
“Luca.” His name came out more like a sigh than a whisper, which was pretty embarrassing. His answering grin told me he liked it. “Do you have a tracker on me or something? What are you doing here?”
Luca chuckled and said, “No, no tracker. Promise. I’m simply here looking for true love, just like you,”
Oh Lord, he really does know what I’m doing here. But is he honestly here for the dating app too, after what he’d said at lunch?
“Actually, I’m here supporting my friend, Summer,” I said, reaching over to grab her arm and pull her up next to me. “This is Summer. Summer, this is Luca.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Summer. I believe we saw each other at Campanella’s last week.” Luca glanced at me, a twinkle in his eye. “Our first coincidental meeting.”
Summer beamed at him and said, “I’m rooting for you, Luca,” before slinking out of my grasp and scurrying away.
Traitor.
“So … you’re not a member?”
I shook my head and looked longingly at Summer’s back. “No, and I’d bet money you aren’t either.”
I looked back at him to see him lift his shoulders slightly.
“Okay, you got me. I was having dinner with my buddy,” he pointed toward a handsome man who was currently making Dana, the coordinator, blush furiously, “and saw you and your friend coming in here. I wasn’t sure what exactly you guys were doing, but I couldn’t pass up the chance to talk to you again. I hope you don’t mind.”
Warmth filled my belly at his words and the way he was looking at me caused my heart to beat double-time.
“No, I don’t mind,” I said honestly, shifting so I was standing next to him and we were both looking at the group before us. “I only came here because Summer asked me to. I’m not really all that comfortable talking to strangers, so, you being here actually kinda helps me out.”
“Yeah?” he asked.
I nodded and glanced at his friend.
“But what about him? Are you making him chat up the lady who’s supposed to be mediating this thing?”
As if she just remembered her role, Dana stepped away from Luca’s friend and cleared her throat loudly. “We’re going to start with an icebreaker. If I could have everyone pair up with the person closest to you, I have some questions to get a conversation started, then I’ll blow the whistle and the ladies will go to the next man on their right and all the men will stay where they are, and we’ll do a new question. All right?”
There were murmurs of agreement as everyone moved to do as they were told.
Luca’s friend moved to stand next to Luca and I gave him a little wave.
“Whitney, this is my longtime friend, Damon. Damon, this is Whitney.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” I said, holding out my hand.
“The pleasure is all mine,” Damon said smoothly, his grin wicked and his voice compellingly deep. “I always enjoy meeting beautiful women. Looks like we’re a threesome.”
“No,” Luca said sharply, causing Damon to chuckle and shoot me a wink.
“Well, the numbers are off,” Damon explained, undeterred.
“Okay, first question,” Dana began. “If you could go on vacation anywhere, where would you go? Money is no object. Discuss.”
“I have to say Saint-Tropez,” Damon told me.
“No one asked you,” Luca said. “Why don’t you go back to the table. I bet our beer’s getting warm.”
Damon took my hand in his and leaned down to kiss the back lightly, his eyes never leaving mine. “It was a pleasure, Whitney. Please don’t hold Luca’s rudeness against him. He really is a good guy, just a little insecure when I’m around.”
“Oh, for God’s sake,” Luca said, exasperated.
I laughed as Damon made a big show of waving goodbye to everyone as he sauntered out of the room.
“He seems like fun,” I said when Damon was gone.
“He’s the best guy I know.”
I looked thoughtfully at Luca and asked, “So the competitiveness between the two of you is just you guys playing around?”
“No, we’re pretty competitive, but right now he was messing with me.” At my pointed look he said hurriedly, “Not that he didn’t mean you were beautiful or any of that, but he knows I’m interested in you, so he was pressing my buttons.”
My breath caught.
“You told your best friend you’re interested in me?” I asked, biting my lower lip nervously. “Luca … you’re my boss. I don’t see how anything could ever really happen between us.”
“You are a striking woman. Smart, funny, gorgeous. Any man would be lucky to get to spend time with you. Yes, we work for the same company, but I’m not your supervisor, so there wouldn’t be a conflict of interest.” Luca reached for my hand and held it gently in his. “I understand your hesitation and with everything that happened with your ex, I’m sure you’re wary of getting involved with anyone. But I’d love the chance to get to know you better. We can go slow, date casually if you want.”
My mind went through all of the reasons why it was a bad idea, but the fact remained that his touch seemed to light a fire within me that had been snuffed out for a very, very long time. Plus, I actually liked him and wanted to get to know him better, too, so my heart told my mind to take a break.