Liam and Wes nodded in agreement, still looking amused.
The hostess who had seated us approached the three men. “Your table’s ready now.”
Barry scanned the nearby tables. “Is it possible to bring that table”—he pointed to the one in question—“over here so our friends can join us?”
Our friends? Since when did introducing yourself to a stranger suddenly turn you into buddies?
I expected Travis to turn down the suggestion. I mean, surely they had better things to do than crash Hannah’s and my date.
“That’s a great idea,” Travis said, and I barely kept my mouth from flopping open. But considering it was my date’s idea, there wasn’t anything I could do…other than suck it up.
The hostess indicated to the nearby busboy. Together with Travis’s help, they moved the empty table and chairs to join us. Wes sat next to Hannah. Liam sat at the end of the table, leaving only one other spot available.
Next to me.
And if I’d thought I was a lost cause at the sound of Travis’s voice, that was nothing compared to his familiar scent and pheromones being so close to me. Even in the two days since I’d last seen him, my reaction to them hadn’t weakened. Quite the opposite.
Travis leaned in close to me—a little bit too close.
Just ask my heart. It was now beating like a crazed fangirl on caffeine.
Encouraged by my girlie parts, of course.
Damn them all.
“So how long have you two known each other?” Travis asked me and Barry.
“Barry’s a friend of Tony,” I said, pointing to Hannah’s date.
Wes leaned in front of Hannah and extended his hand to Tony. His chest pressed against her shoulder and she flinched. “Hey. Wes.”
Tony shook the proffered hand. “Good to meet you.” His tone implied the opposite.
Wes straightened and parked his arm partly on the back of Hannah’s chair. “So how do you know each other?” he asked the happy couple.
Hannah gave him a blank look and glanced at Travis.
Travis shrugged at her unspoken question. Why did I feel like I was missing something here?
“I’m a resident at the hospital where Hannah works,” Tony said.
“Did you hear the great news?” Hannah asked Travis even though she sounded far from excited. “Emma found a new location for Aphrodite’s. She’s signing the lease tomorrow.”
Wes’s questioning gaze shot to Travis.
Travis shifted in his seat, his leg brushing against mine. I gasped softly at the electrical current zinging through me and jerked my leg away.
“When did you start looking for a new location?” he asked me, frowning.
“Yesterday. Like I told you the other day, since our little arrangement’s over, I didn’t expect you to help me anymore.”
“But what about the part where I said I would talk to the owner of the building and convince him to let you stay where you are?”
“And what if you can’t do that? I couldn’t take the risk. I need to advertise the move and I was running out of time. Now I can announce it at the fundraiser next week.”
Wes cleared his throat.
“Do you want to move?” Travis asked me.
“Of course not. I mean the new place is nice and all, but I’m happier where I am. But this isn’t about me being happier there. It’s about my lease not being renewed. It’s about me losing everything I care about.” I gave him a pointed look I knew he couldn’t translate. He had no way of knowing how I felt about him.
And I wasn’t about to tell him now—especially not in front of my date.
Either deciding that our conversation was over or he just wasn’t interested in it, Barry jumped in with a barrage of questions about the Rock and about playing in the NHL.
Not once during their conversation did he acknowledge my existence. I could have gone to the bathroom and he wouldn’t have noticed.
Ooh. That was a good idea.
I excused myself.
Hannah pushed her chair away from the table, forcing Wes to drop his arm from the back of her seat. “I’ll come with you.” She threw Wes an exasperated look and scrambled after me.
“I can’t believe he showed up here,” I muttered on the way to the bathroom.
The comment was intended for myself, but I guess I said it loud enough for Hannah to overhear. “Why wouldn’t he show up?” she asked.
Her response caused me to stop and I spun around to face her. “What do you mean why wouldn’t he show up? He had no idea I was going to be here.”
The best thing about Hannah? She wasn’t good at poker—which meant she hadn’t developed a poker face.
“You told him I’d be here?”
“I might have hinted it when I saw him in your building yesterday.”
“But why would you do that?” I asked.
“Because maybe I was hoping he would show up, get jealous at seeing you with another man, and realize he loves you.”
“Clearly your plan backfired. He’s not in love with me and he knows it. But Wes definitely seems intent on sabotaging your date.”
Hannah rolled her eyes. “He’s just acting like an alpha jerk.”
“An alpha jerk who obviously likes you.”
That earned me another eye roll.
The bathroom was empty when we entered. We quickly did our business and left.
A word of advice. It’s always a good idea when you leave the bathroom to look where you’re going. Eyes in front. Because Murphy’s Law clearly states that if you aren’t looking in front of you, this is when you’re guaranteed to walk into someone.
I slammed into the poor unfortunate soul I wasn’t paying attention to. “Sorry,” I said as I glanced up…and groaned. Travis.
But I guess I shouldn’t have been too surprised. The tingling that I’d experienced when he’d accidentally brushed his leg against mine at the table? It had zinged through me once again when I bumped into him.
“Do you make it a habit of lurking outside ladies’ bathrooms?” I asked.
Hannah slipped out from behind me and walked away without a word to us.
“I want to talk to you,” he said.
“Kind of guessed that. But I should get back to my date. He’s waiting for me.” Unless the gods of bad blind dates had decided to give me a break and Barry had already bailed.
Travis parked his hand on the wall above my head. “Are you interested in him?”
“Weren’t you the one who said that someday a man’s gonna fall in love with me and never want to let me go? Maybe he’s the one.” Did I believe that was the case with Barry? Not in a million and one years.
“You never answered my question,” Travis said. “Are you interested in him?”
I shook my head as my heart demanded I tell him that I loved him—because what was the worst he could do?
Laugh in my face.
Remind me that he’ll never risk loving anyone.
Run.
Most likely run.
If I wasn’t Dr. Lovejoy, I’d write to her to get some advice. But since I was, that wasn’t an option. It was always easy to give advice when it wasn’t your heart at stake.
“Are you interested in me?” His voice was rough and raw sensual man that set my body tingling again.
My gaze dropped to his mouth. My body screamed, Of course I’m interested in you.
Some people claim that when you’re in a life or death situation, your life flashes before your eyes. My life wasn’t in jeopardy, so instead I witnessed a montage of those people who had given up on me. My father. My mother. My ex-boyfriend.
And what were odds that Travis would be no different than everyone else?
“No—I’m not interested in you either.” It might have been more convincing if I hadn’t still been staring at his lips.
With all the willpower I had inside me, I turned to walk away.
I didn’t get far. He blocked my escape route.
&nb
sp; Then his lips were on mine and my traitorous legs decided to stick around.
They weren’t the only mutinous parts. Even though the kiss was nothing more than the light questioning of lips, it wasn’t enough for me. I let him in.
Needing to taste him, I stroked my tongue against his and softly moaned. If this was heaven—I never wanted to leave.
Travis knotted his fingers in my hair and tugged the curls, pulling my head back and deepening the kiss.
It only lasted for several heartbeats before Travis moved away. “That’s what I thought.”
And with that he walked away, leaving me standing there dazed.
Still in a daze, I returned to the table. Everyone there was laughing when I approached. Not at me but at something one of them had said.
Pretending nothing had just happened between Travis and me, I sat. Then I spent the rest of the meal wondering how I would survive once he was no longer in my life—beginning next week, after the fundraiser.
Lucky me.
34
Emma
“I’m running a little late,” Janet said on the phone Sunday afternoon. “But I’ve got the papers for you to sign.”
“Not a problem,” I said. “I’ll be here.”
She ended the call and I continued straightening the cushions on the shelf, making sure their romantic sayings faced out for the customers to see.
That stupid smile I get whenever my thoughts are filled with you.
You are every reason, every hope, and every dream I’ve ever had.
You’re the smile to my face and the beat to my heart.
Each one was a pain-in-the-ass reminder of the lack of romance in my life.
Maybe I shouldn’t sign the lease for the new location. Maybe it was time for a career change.
I could be a lion trainer.
Dangerous? Perhaps. But at least I would be so busy trying not to be eaten, I’d be too preoccupied to dwell on how I was never going to find the love in my life I was so sorely missing.
What about my date from last night? Well, that ship had sailed and I made sure I wasn’t on it. When he asked for my number, I sweetly smiled and told him I didn’t think it would be necessary. Then I bailed the truck faster than you could say, “Blind dates suck.”
The store door opened—and like it did every time the bell jingled since I spoke to Fanny, my heart rate jumped up. Why? Because the damn thing kept believing that Travis would walk through the door at any moment and tell me he loved me.
My heart always was the romantic.
Much more so than my girlie parts. They just wished to get laid.
Preferably by Travis.
But it wasn’t Travis who stepped into the store. It was Old Shriveled Ass, the building’s owner. What the heck was he doing here? On a Sunday?
I hadn’t seen him since the day he told me the lease wouldn’t be renewed.
I guess it had been too much to hope that he would never step into the store again.
As usual, he scanned the area as if imagining the contents burning in hell. He wasn’t Catholic. That much I could tell. He wasn’t holding up a cross and damning everything to the fiery pits of you-know-where.
Guess he wasn’t here to buy a cookie—the ones with romantic sayings on them that Fanny had suggested I make and sell in the store.
He approached me, the sneer still on his face. “After much consideration, the owner of the building has decided to renew your lease.”
“The owner?” Wasn’t he the owner?
“That’s right.” He handed me a thick document with “Lease Agreement” typed at the top of the first page. I stared at it, confused.
“I thought you said the store didn’t fit the image of the new condo development.”
“He decided not to go through with those plans and that your establishment can stay.” The way he said “establishment,” you’d have figured it was a whorehouse from back in the day.
When I didn’t take the papers, he tried to shove them at me. I just continued staring at them, unsure what to do.
“What’s wrong?” Shriveled Ass asked. Well, more liked grumbled. There might have also been an edge of panic in his voice, but I couldn’t be certain.
“You told me I was being kicked out, so I found a new place.”
“Have you signed the lease for it yet?”
I shook my head. “But the realtor is on her way now.”
“Then that don’t mean anything. As long as you haven’t signed that lease, you’re free to sign this one.” He waved the papers under my nose.
The bell over the store door tinkled again. This time Wes entered. Old Shriveled Ass scowled. Wes ignored him and approached us.
A wave of panic surged through me. You know how many times Wes had been in the store, despite working in the same building as me?
Zero. Zippo. Nil. And since he didn’t have a girlfriend, I couldn’t see him needing to come in here…unless something was wrong with Travis.
“Is everything okay?” I hurriedly asked him. “Did something happen to Travis?”
He smiled, clearly amused at my question. “Travis is fine. I wanted to make sure nothing went wrong with you signing the lease.” He gave Old Shriveled Ass a pointed look.
The pain-in-my-ass shrugged. “She said she’s signing the lease for another place.”
“Do you mind if we continue this in your office?” Wes asked me.
The store was busy, like it normally was on the weekend, but the two girls working the shift could handle it. I was just here for the distraction anyway.
“Why would you care if I sign the lease for here?” I asked Wes once we, along with Shriveled Ass, were in my office. “It’s not like you actually shop here.”
“I have my reasons.”
Shriveled Ass rolled his eyes like I was an idiot. “Because he’s the owner and for some ridiculous reason he feels that saving this place of sin is a good idea.”
“For God’s sake,” I blurted out. “It’s not a brothel.”
Because I was so pissed at his attitude, it took a moment for the first part to sink in. “Wait—you’re the owner?” I asked Wes. He couldn’t be.
Because if he was that meant Travis was aware of it, too.
Nodding, he glared at Shriveled Ass. In turn, the old man cringed. At least that part was satisfying.
“How come I didn’t know this?” Not once had Travis mentioned it or had Wes given any indication he owned the building.
“Because everyone thinks I’m just another tenant, and I prefer it that way.”
“Does Travis know?” I asked even though I was pretty sure I knew the answer.
“He does. So does Liam. But that’s it.”
“Fair enough. Your secret’s safe with me.” He had his reasons for not telling anyone and I respected that.
I opened my mouth to say something, but then glanced at Shriveled Ass and changed my mind.
As if sensing my reluctance to talk in front of the man, Wes took the unsigned contract from him and dismissed him.
Shriveled Ass huffed like the big bad wolf preparing to blow the place down. Wes indicated to the closed door with the jerk of his head and the older man left, muttering something I was positive I didn’t wish to hear.
Once the door clicked shut, Wes nodded for me to go ahead and say whatever I needed to ask.
“When did Travis talk to you about my lease?”
“A couple of weeks ago.”
Was that before or after I had agreed to be his fake girlfriend? “And he convinced you not to shut down my store?”
That would explain why Travis hadn’t been too worried about finding me a new location. He knew he had a good chance of convincing his friend to let me stay.
“He’s going to kill me for telling you this…but your store was never in jeopardy. I didn’t even know you were operating under the belief you had to find a new location. Travis told me.”
I frowned. “Then why did Old…I mean, why was I told m
y lease wasn’t being renewed?”
“That would be my uncle’s doing.”
“Your uncle? Who’s your uncle?”
“Donald Shrivener. The building manager.”
Oh. That would explain everything. So the old bastard had lied to me.
“But why would he tell me it wasn’t being renewed?” I had my suspicions but I wanted to hear it from Wes.
“Because he doesn’t agree with anything to do with romance. Let’s just say if Cupid really did exist, my uncle would track him down like he was a deer during hunting season.”
I cringed on poor Cupid’s behalf. “And Travis knew this about the lease?”
Wes didn’t answer—which pretty much was my answer.
“So I pretended to be his girlfriend all for nothing.”
Right—that wasn’t entirely true. I got to fall in love with someone who couldn’t love me in return. Added bonus for me.
Wes held out the contract to me. Reluctantly I took it and stared at the blasted thing.
Someone knocked on the door. At my “Come in,” the door opened and in walked Janet, damp from the rain.
She smiled at me. “I’ve got the paperwork for you to sign.”
“I have to head out,” Wes said. “But let me know what you decide.” He turned to leave but then swiveled back to me. “For the record, Travis did what he did because he wanted to help you out. He didn’t have to be involved with the fundraiser. He did that because it’s important to him—and because he felt he was cheating if he had stuck with the original terms of your deal.”
This time, Wes did leave.
“Should we get going with this?” Janet asked as I stared numbly at the closed door.
35
Dear Dr. Lovejoy,
I’ve finally found The One. But until her, I was commitment phobic—and she knows that. What should I do to prove that I had it all wrong?
Sincerely,
I Was An Idiot
36
Travis
How did I know Emma had lied when she told me last night at the restaurant that she wasn’t interested in me? No—it wasn’t the way she had been staring at my lips. Although that had been the driving force for what happened next.
Decidedly With Love Page 19
