Confession of Love (Romance on the Go)

by Devereaux, Vanessa

  Not one to ever turn away business, Dana couldn’t say no.

  “Sure, what time?”

  “He’s here right now.”

  Dana took a deep breath while running her hands through her hair. The Scrunchie would have to stay in place because by now her hair would be one frizzy mess.

  “Okay, show him in.”

  Dana smoothed her skirt, noticing it was creased from the downpour.

  “Dana, Ian Kincaide to see you,” said Jenny.

  Her head shot up to look at the doorway. He was walking toward her with a smile on his face. She’d obviously not made herself clear enough the last two times they’d spoken. Shit, she looked like a train wreck. But why was she worrying about that? It might just put him off pursuing her. Yeah, that might make this whole thing so much easier.

  “If you don’t mind, I have to meet with a new client,” she said. She had an inkling he was him, but played dumb.

  “I know, and it’s me.”

  Without being asked, he pulled up a chair and sat in front of her.

  “You want to hire the agency?”

  He nodded.

  “And what type of business do you have?”

  She didn’t even bother to pull out her book to make notes because she knew he was doing this just to get through the door.

  “Actually it’s not for me. It’s for my nephew.”

  She looked up at him. Why do you have to be a cop? You’re so cute and probably a sweet guy. Why couldn’t you have been a dentist or just a homeless bum?

  Dana played along with him, hoping he’d leave, and all temptation would be gone too.

  “And what type of business is your nephew own?”

  “Little League.”

  She bit her lip. Now he was making fun of her.

  “Little League,” she repeated.

  He nodded. “To tell you the truth, they’re the shittiest team I’ve never seen. However, I think with a little publicity they could get their name out there, or even get some sponsorship. Even some better quality coaches and become a team to be reckoned with.”

  I’m dreaming all this.

  “You want my company to promote your nephew’s Little League team?”

  “Not the company, but you specifically.”

  Okay, if he wanted to play it like this, she’d go along.

  “And your nephew couldn’t come here himself to speak with me?”

  “He’s at school.”

  Dana stood, walked around to the other side of her desk. She leaned her butt against it and crossed her arms as she always did when she had a point to make.

  “Mr. Kincade—”

  He raised his hand. “Nope, it’s Ian.”

  “Ian, this is all a joke, isn’t it? You’ve come along here to try and talk me into having dinner with you.”

  “Really, you flatter yourself.”

  Shit, what if she was? She’d look like a first class idiot.

  “So, what do you say? Will you take him on as a client?”

  “Mr…Ian.”

  He raised his hand again. “Don’t say no because I’d hate to break this little boy’s heart if he comes home from school, and I have to tell him you won’t promote his team. And before you say anything else, let me show you his photo.”

  Before she could stop him, he’d taken out his wallet and opened it up. He passed it to her.

  Now in her hand she cradled a photo of the cutest little boy she’d ever seen. Thick dark hair and hazel/blue eyes like his uncle. However, unlike his uncle, one of his front teeth was missing.

  “He’s adorable.” She handed him back his wallet.

  “How could you say no to this kid?” he asked, looking at his nephew’s photo before he closed the wallet. Genuine pride was written across his face and it made it all that much harder to send him on his way.

  “PR isn’t cheap.”

  “He has his allowance, and I’ll be helping him out too.”

  She wasn’t going to win this battle so she might as well admit defeat. At least for now.

  “When can you bring him in to meet with me so we can put together a PR campaign tailored to the team?”

  He smiled.

  Yeah, you’ve won, but it’s only temporary.

  “Funny you should say that. He wants to meet with you tonight if possible.”

  “Okay, can you bring him here?”

  Ian pulled out a sheet of paper from his jacket pocket and handed it to her. “He wrote this with every confidence that you’d take him on as a client. It’s the time and location that he’ll meet with you.”

  She took a sheet of what looked like construction paper from him, and there, written in blue crayon, was a note for her.

  “Dear Dana…hope you don’t mind me calling you that? I’d be happy if you could meet me at 7 p.m. tonight at 389 Reynolds Street so we can discuss your plans to make my Little League team the top one in the county. Your new client, Robbie True. X.”

  She smiled. She couldn’t help it. It was so darn cute, but no doubt his uncle had put him up to it. The X at the end of the note had sealed the deal and won her over.

  She held the paper in her hand and looked over at Ian.

  “Tell him I’ll be there and I’m looking forward to meeting him.”

  “Great. He’s going to be thrilled, and so is the team. And let me write you a check to get things started.”

  He reached into his jacket pocket.

  Dana put up her hand. “Let’s have our meeting first.”

  Ian shrugged his shoulders. “Okay.”

  He stood and reached out to shake her hand. “Thank you. You don’t know how happy you’ve made me. It’s made my day.”

  She took it, feeling the warm of his fingers entwined with hers. It felt strangely comforting.

  “Don’t you mean I’ve made Robbie’s day?”

  “If my nephew’s happy, then I’m happy too.”

  He winked at her.

  “I’ll give you a call tomorrow morning to see how your meeting with Robbie went.”

  She nodded and watched him walk away. She shouldn’t have because he had the cutest little butt in his black jeans, but she was hooked.

  Dana walked back behind her desk and sat down, looking at Robbie’s note one more time.

  Ian was up to something, but she wasn’t sure exactly what.

  Chapter Four

  What was it they always said? Never work with animals or children? They stole both the show and your thunder? Robbie might possibly do that, but he was Ian’s ticket to having dinner with Dana.

  “Uncle Ian, how many times are you going to comb your hair?”

  “Have I already done it?”

  “Yeah, like five times.”

  “Leave your uncle alone because I think he’s smitten,” said Sharon, Ian’s sister.

  “What’s smitten?” asked Robbie.

  “It means he likes this lady a lot.” She scooped some of the mashed peas onto a spoon and fed it to his niece, Olivia, who sat in her highchair.

  “Now you know the plan, right, Robbie?” asked Ian. “We have to get our story straight.”

  “We’re both going to the restaurant to meet the lady, but I have to tell her that I forgot I had homework to finish so you’ll stay and talk business with her instead. Dad will then come by and pick me up and bring me home.”

  “You do know you’re encouraging my son into a life of deceit and lies, don’t you?” asked Sharon.

  “He knows it’s for a good cause, don’t you, Robbie?” He ruffled the boy’s hair.

  “As long as you bring her to see me play this week.”

  “Sure, I think we can arrange it. Okay, so how does your uncle look?”

  Ian held out his arms away from his body and turned around.

  “Okay for an old guy, I guess.”

  Sharon burst out laughing.

  “You do know that your mother’s older than me so I’ve no idea why she’s laughing so hard.”

  “G
o on, both of you get going and look out for Dad’s car about 7.15 p.m., okay? Oh and, Robbie, make sure you give me a good description of this Dana.”

  She winked at Ian as he and Robbie headed out of the door.

  He opened the car door for Robbie and his nephew slid in beside him. “Don’t forget the flowers on the back seat when you get out okay?”

  Robbie nodded. “Why do girls like them so much?”

  “I guess they like nice looking things. So are we ready to rock and roll?”

  “Let’s hit the road,” said Robbie.

  ****

  Dana looked at her watch. She was running late because her last meeting had lasted longer than expected. She’d barely had time to get home, shower and change. At least it hadn’t rained again. She glanced at the note Robbie had written to her and saw she was almost at number 389. It was off-street parking so she pulled into the first spot she saw. Grabbing her purse from the passenger seat, she got out and locked the door.

  She walked along the street a few yards and number 389 was now directly in front of her. She might have guessed she’d been set up. Dana now stood on the pavement, looking at a Greek restaurant. It would serve Ian right if she turned around and went home. Yeah, that’s what she’d do.

  “Dana, there you are. We’ve been looking out for you.”

  She turned back when she heard Ian’s voice. He was standing in the doorway. Shit, she couldn’t leave now even if she wanted to because he was so gorgeous in his white shirt, two buttons opened at the top, the black dress pants showing off what were probably well toned legs. She swallowed. In all honesty, she wanted to dine with him, go home with him, and yes, have him make love to her.

  “I’m sorry I’m late,” she said, knowing there was only one direction she was heading, and it wasn’t home. She walked toward him as he held the restaurant door open for her.

  It wasn’t fancy or even that big, but dimly lit, candles flickering on each of the dozen or so tables. The smell of herbs and garlic hit her nostrils and her stomach rumbled.

  “I wasn’t aware we were meeting for a meal,” she said.

  “I thought it would be nice and relaxing. Our table’s through here if you want to follow me.”

  She walked behind him through an alcove with four more tables and at one of them sat the boy from the photo he’d shown her. Smiling, she walked toward him and held out her hand.

  “You must be Robbie, my new client. I’m happy to meet you.”

  The young man stood and took her hand. “It’s great to meet you. Oh, and these are for you.”

  He handed her a bunch of mixed flowers. She took them and put her nose to the large pink rose in the center. Her favorite.

  “That’s very nice of you, but you really shouldn’t have.”

  “I have bad news,” he said. He glanced at his uncle before continuing. “Mrs. Nealon, our teacher, gave us more homework so I need to leave and work on it.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” said Dana, knowing she’d fallen right into this one.

  Robbie shrugged. “These things happen.”

  “So do you need to reschedule our meeting?”

  He shook his head and looked at his uncle again. “As you can see I brought along Uncle Ian and he’ll fill in for me.”

  She looked at Ian, who had a certain cheeky look to him now. She wanted to be mad, but just couldn’t find it in her.

  “Really? That’s very nice of him.”

  “He’s a great guy. And now I think my dad’s waiting to pick me up, but I hope you’ll come and see me play tomorrow.”

  “I’ll have to check my calendar and let you know.”

  “How about you sit down and look over the menu while I take Robbie out to meet his dad?” said Ian.

  Ian put his hand on the boy’s shoulder and maneuvered him through the tables as Dana pulled out a chair.

  The whole thing had been devious and cunning, yet so cute she couldn’t do anything else besides smile. And judging by the meals the couple on the next table was eating, the food not only smelled good, it looked mouthwatering too.

  She pulled out her reading glasses and opened up the menu. Wow, for such a hole in the wall place, it had lots of choices. How had she ever missed a gem like this?

  “Sorry about that.”

  She looked up to see Ian had returned. He sat and their knees bumped under the table, sending a pleasant buzz through Dana’s body. She should say something to him about the obvious set up, but truth was she was flattered. She almost admired Ian’s creativity for orchestrating the whole thing.

  “Do you eat here often?” She looked up from her menu.

  “A couple of times and the food’s excellent. Oh, and I’m picking up the tab.”

  She put her chin on her hand, looked at him, and smiled.

  “You look really cute in those glasses. I thought that when I saw you wearing them in your office.”

  Dana had forgotten she’d put them on. She’d been too busy admiring the view across the table. And not to mention the warmth from his body and the smell of his cologne or aftershave, or whatever it was.

  She was about to remove them when he stopped her.

  “They’re sexy.”

  “That’s the first time anyone’s called them that. I’ve had to wear them for reading since I was in high school and I basically hate them.”

  “Not everyone looks good in glasses, but you do. I think it’s because you have high cheekbones.”

  He touched her face with the back of his hand. She took a deep breath. It felt so comforting and she was heading down a road she didn’t want to go, but somehow couldn’t fight it.

  Flicking a stray hair from her cheek, he then leaned over and kissed her.

  A kiss and in a very public place. It had been a first for her.

  Someone coughed by their table. “Have you decided what you want to order?”

  Dana looked up to see the waiter standing there.

  “I have. How about you, Dana?” asked Ian.

  “I think I’m going to have the moussaka.”

  “Excellent choice, and for you, sir?”

  “I think I’ll have the same.”

  “I’ll put those orders in straight away. Can I get you any wine?”

  “Yes, a bottle of your white house wine.”

  “Coming right up.”

  “Where were we?” asked Ian after the waiter left.

  “You were kissing me. How it happened I don’t know.”

  “The question is did you like it?”

  She didn’t answer.

  “You don’t have much of a poker face.”

  “Then you know the answer.”

  “And it’s a look that says I should do it again.”

  He leaned over and kissed her once more. The evening wasn’t turning out like she’d planned, but there was little she could do to stop it. There was another loud cough and this time the waiter held a bottle of wine and two glasses in his hands.

  He let Ian sample it then poured some for Dana before topping up Ian’s glass. He nodded and walked away.

  “What shall we drink to?” asked Ian.

  “Little League and uncles who use their innocent nephews to get what they want.”

  “Once you get to know Robbie, you’ll find out that he’s far from innocent.”

  “Then he must take after his uncle.”

  “Shit, I set myself up for that one.”

  They both laughed.

  “See, this isn’t so bad is it. I mean being on a date with a cop?”

  “A date? Just a minute, I thought this was a business meeting.” She put her glass down on the table. Dana had to admit he was right. This was turning into a fun evening. He was great company and ,best of all, he had a sense of humor. That was a must have on her list of things a potential boyfriend should possess. Damn. Why did he have to be almost so perfect for her?

  “Whatever you want to call it, it’s fine with me.”

  “I think we shou
ld talk about Robbie’s team and how I’m going to get them some publicity.”

  “But once that’s out of the way, I want to hear more about you.”

  ****

  He’d been stupid not to look where he’d been running that day. Slamming into her car where he might have gotten more than a few broken ribs. But on the other hand, stupidity was now paying off big time. He looked at her over the rim of his glass as he finished the last of the wine. The candle flickering on the table cast her in a sexy light. The gloss on her lips glistened. Light bounced off her light brown hair, making him want to run his hand through it.

  Maybe later, he would.

  Ian had forgotten on Thursdays, a band played at the restaurant. He hadn’t planned for this part of the evening, but it was another great thing that had simply fallen into place.

  She was finishing up the last of the baklava, running the remaining few morsels of filo dough around the edge of the plate to scoop up what was left of the syrup. He liked a woman who wasn’t afraid to eat. Most women he’d dated ate salad and nothing else. Compared to Dana, they’d also been boring.

  “Do you dance?”

  She looked up at him.

  He hadn’t been able to resist asking. Not that he was great at it, but it would give him an opportunity to hold her in his arms just in case things didn’t pan out like he’d hoped.

  “I do, but I suck.”

  “Me too. So how about we look foolish together?”

  He stood and extended his hand out to her.

  At first, he thought she was going to stubbornly sit there, but then she got to her feet too and put her hand into his. It was soft, petite, and, for some strange reason, he wanted to pull it up to his mouth and kiss the back of it.

  Instead, he led her to the tiny dance floor in the main section of the restaurant. Luckily the song playing was a slow one.

  Ian pulled her in close. Her arms going around his neck; his sliding around her waist. She rested her chin on his shoulder. Turning his head slightly her way, he took in her scent. A floral undertone that seemed to suit her. Her long hair tickled his nose. That smelled good too. As they moved around, he couldn’t resist the urge to ease her body in even closer. She ran her fingers over the top of his neck just below his hairline. He closed his eyes for a second because her touch had sent something electrifying throughout his body.