by E. M. Shea
“All righty, then,” Anne announced, turning from the microphone to size up the twosome-to-be beside her. Glancing from Dani to Nick, and then back again, her smile faded as dual looks of sheer discomfort greeted her. “Why don’t you two … I don’t know … how about shake hands.”
Forced to face each other, Dani and Nick made eye contact, both looking as though they would rather submit to a bout of Chinese water torture. Finally, Nick extended his hand, waiting for Dani to reciprocate. As she gingerly reached out, he grabbed hold, his grip both warm and strong. Her eyes met his, but this time she saw something different—a look of “are you as uncomfortable as I am?”—that seemed to be shared as a co-conspirator rather than the enemy. When he released his grip several moments later, she felt oddly disappointed.
Anne resumed her place in front of the microphone and clapped enthusiastically as the audience joined in. “And we’re off to a great start!” She paused for several moments before adding, “Okay, let’s get ready for bachelorette number two!”
“I think that’s our cue to leave,” Dani said gratefully out of earshot from the mic. Her cheeks still hot with embarrassment, disbelief and about a half dozen other unpleasant emotions thrown into the mix, she exchanged a quick glance with Nick, who appeared equally blindsided.
Margaret, on the other hand, seemed perfectly at ease. “I’m pretty sure the way this works is one of the charity organizers will be in touch with details about your date.” Singed by simultaneous withering glances from Dani and Nick, her smile quickly wilted.
Back at their table, Dani struggled to wrap her head around what had just happened. Yes, Margaret could be a screwball. And by sheer proxy, she had dragged Dani into no shortage of cringe-worthy situations over the years. But to deliberately throw her under the bus like this? Really?
“So, that was fun,” Margaret said as she quickly brought a jumbo-sized margarita glass up to her lips. Contrived nonchalance was clearly not her strong point.
Dani stared at her for several bewildering moments. Finally, she found her voice again. “What. Were. You. Thinking.”
“Okay, okay. I know you’re pissed—and I swear I didn’t realize you’d be this upset. I thought you would find the whole thing kind of funny.”
“Funny? You mean it wasn’t clear after I told you about the ticket incident, the courtroom one on top of that and then the argument about my profession—that this guy absolutely despises me? And the feeling is mutual, I might add.”
“Yes, I get it now.” Margaret pursed her lips in a determined effort to refrain from further observations. It lasted all of three seconds. “But you have to admit he is one prime specimen. Can’t you just overlook your differences for one night and have a good time with this guy?”
Dani’s mouth hung open until she forcibly snapped it shut. “No! I’m not going to magically like someone who’s already shown his true colors.”
“And, um, what might those colors be?” Margaret posed, an obvious attempt to deflect the conversation away from herself.
“I don’t know. Whatever colors in the spectrum combine to make up a jerk.”
“So you’re really not going out on a date with him? After I sacrificed my chance to be my own pimp for the night? We did pay five-thousand for him.”
“You mean Leland did.”
Margaret smiled deviously. “Even better.”
Dani sighed. “Okay, okay. I’m not going to pursue this further. But if he gets in touch with me—and I don’t in a million years expect he will—then I will go out with him on this meetup, or whatever you want to call it. It’s all for a good cause, right? And as long as he acts civil towards me, I’ll do the same.”
“Good. Just be sure you’re both naked while you’re pretending to be nice to each other.”
Dani shook her head and smirked. “Well, sorry to disappoint you, but there will be no nakedness involved—that I can promise. This guy hates me, and I’m sure he just wants to get this over with as much as I do. If it all.”
Margaret patted Dani’s hand as if in agreement. “Of course.” Eyes wide with mischief, she took a long, slurping sip as she drained her margarita glass dry. Coming up for air, she added, “But when the two of you get hitched, there better be a shrine to me at the wedding altar.”
She threw back her head and heaved with laughter. Dani, on the other hand, simply wanted to heave.
Chapter Six
Nick opened the door to his SUV, sat down in the driver’s seat and took a long drag on his takeout cup of coffee with the same intensity that the Marlboro Man used to savor a cigarette. It had been nearly 18 hours since his stint at the charity auction, which he had initially deemed to be a complete disaster on his part. But for some reason, he could no longer get a clear fix on things. Which was unusual. Because if there was one thing in this world—this sometimes dark, sometimes exhilarating, but always unpredictable world—that Nick could count on, it was his ability to cut through the bull and to read a situation with 20/10 vision.
But here he was, parked in front of a 7-Eleven as he waited for Gus to exit and rejoin him. They had just finished responding to a burglar alarm at a nearby warehouse and apprehended a fleeing suspect who was then hauled off by another responding unit. But despite the adrenaline-pumping foot chase, that’s not what was occupying his thoughts. Nope. Because like a video without a pause button, images from last night’s event continued to play over and over in his head. He took another sip of coffee, half closing his eyes as it went down smooth and another image popped into his head: a certain chestnut-haired, green-eyed woman looking up at him as he held her hand. And it just didn’t make sense. How could that soft, petite hand—the one that left a tingle in his own—belong to the same pit-bull attorney who had left a trail of fang marks on his ass after that recent court hearing?
Another image, this one of Dani looking up at him in the glare of the auction stage spotlight, the disdain in her eyes melting away as they met his. Well, at least temporarily. Still, there was clearly a pattern here that he could no longer deny. He pulled a piece of paper out of his pants pocket and stared at its contents: Dani’s full name, email address and phone number, courtesy of the charity organizers. You just have to do this. After a long pause, his finger circling over the buttons on his cellphone, he finally punched in the numbers. She won’t recognize the number and will let it go to voicemail, he reasoned as he quickly composed a message in his head.
“Hello, this is Dani.”
Uh oh. Caught off-guard, Nick cleared his throat.
“Hello?” Dani repeated.
“Uh … hello. This is Nick. Nick Bellamy. From last night.” He grimaced to himself. Could he sound any more lame? Of course she knew who he was. After all, they already shared a minor history prior to the auction, albeit an antagonistic one. Nonetheless, he felt compelled to explain further. “We were … you bid … I mean—” Tongue-tied, Nick ran his hand over the top of his head in the hopes of jumpstarting his brain. If his hair hadn’t been mowed down to police-requisite, barely perceptible length, he would have tugged out a chunk in sheer frustration.
“Yes, I know who you are.”
Was that a hint of amusement in her voice? He held the phone away from his ear, taking a few moments to collect himself. When he returned it back within speaking range, he was relieved to finally feel once again in control. “Look, last night was pretty awkward. For both of us.”
“For once, I think we’re in agreement.”
Nick grinned. He might just get through this call after all. “I know I’m probably the last person you want to spend time with …” He waited for her to object, but was greeted with silence. Great. Still, he plodded along. “But thanks to your bid—”
“My friend’s bid—”
Inner sigh. “Right. Thanks to your friend’s bid, five-thousand dollars have been pledged to charity. I think we can both agree that this is a good thing, right?”
“Of course.”
“So now we h
ave two things we can agree on. Anyways, the reason I’m calling is that after you left last night … or ran out is more like it … one of the event organizers gave me a gift card to Spinelli’s Restaurant. It’s a new Italian place over on South Main.”
“Yes, I’ve heard it’s really good.”
“So … I’m thinking that—for the sake of charity—we, uh, should just bury the hatchet for one night and get dinner.” Nick waited several moments for a response. “And then we never have to see each other again.” Still no response. “Unless, of course, you’re speeding.” Pause. “Or hitting road signs.” He held the phone away from his ear again, tempted to smash it on his head in the hope that it would knock some good sense into him. “Or, you know, we’re facing each other in court …” So much for the good sense part. “Okay?”
The response wasn’t immediate, which only increased Nick’s relief when it finally came.
“Yes … okay. Like you said—it’s all for a good cause.”
“Great! How does Saturday night sound?”
“I can do Saturday. How about I meet you there at seven p.m.?”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“See?” Nick said out loud to himself after ending the call. “That wasn’t too bad.”
A loud clapping suddenly emanated from the back seat, startling him so much that he tossed the phone up in the air. “What the …!”
Gus popped his head up. “Sorry, Sarge. Didn’t mean to scare you. But just wanted to say—well done.”
Nick swiveled his head back so swiftly that it felt like it might dislodge from his neck. “Are you frigging kidding me? What the hell are you doing back here? I thought you were still inside getting coffee!”
Gus sheepishly lifted his hand to reveal a half-eaten candy bar. “I figured you saw me heading back out here when you were paying for your coffee.”
Nick’s face was scrunched tight. “Obviously not. And that still doesn’t explain why you’re hiding in the back seat.”
“I was trying to unzip my jacket at the same time I was holding my Mega-Choc bar, and it flew in the air—kind of like your phone just did.”
His hopeful smile was met with an icy stare that threatened to turn the SUV into a polar cap on wheels.
“Uh, anyways,” he continued, doing his best to persevere as even his sweat started to sweat. “I was crouching down searching the floor when you got in the driver’s seat. Then just as I was about to come up for air, you got on your phone. You were sounding a bit … you know, tongue-tied, so I wanted to give you some room to breathe.” Pause. “Or to completely choke, whichever came first.”
Gus—all 230 stout pounds of him—withered back in the crosshairs of Nick’s glare.
“But like I said—you did good. I mean, my own balls were starting to shrink just hearing your side of things, but you plowed through and, you know, now you have a date.”
Nick sighed. “Which I may very soon come to regret.”
“Look, me and the guys all thought she was hot.” As Nick raised a displeased eyebrow, Gus quickly added, “I mean, we were there at the auction. You can’t expect that we weren’t going to check out the winning date. There was a woman bidding on you at the table next to us with a crew cut and muscles bigger than mine. So, we were glad you ended up with, uh, what’s her name.”
“Dani.”
“Right.”
“Get your ass up here so we can leave,” Nick growled, though he figured Gus could tell the gruffness was just for show, and all had been forgiven. As Gus sank into the passenger seat, Nick started up the engine and proceeded to back out of the parking lot.
“By the way,” Gus said, a more serious edge to his voice. “We’ve known each other for so long that I sometimes forget you are in fact my superior. So I just want to say that I’m sorry for being an idiot the other day with the leopard thong and all. It was really out of line.”
Nick glanced sideways at Gus, waiting for him to yell, “Kidding!” After all, though it was true that they had known each other since their days together at the Police Academy, Nick assumed Gus knew he wasn’t the type to pull rank on his buddies. Still, he did seem earnest in his declaration.
“No worries. I know you guys were just letting off steam and having a laugh.”
“I’m glad you understand.” Gus took a bite of his Mega-Choc bar, chewed vigorously for several moments, then turned back to Nick. “But in case you’re interested, I do have a matching thong in tiger stripes if you want to borrow it for Saturday night.”
“Damn you,” Nick grumbled as he simultaneously stifled a grin. Grabbing the chocolate bar from Gus’s hand, he stuffed the last bite in his mouth, then tossed the wrapper on Gus’s lap.
Chapter Seven
Dani walked up to the entrance of Spinelli’s Restaurant and drew in a deep breath as she struggled to find her courage. Just open it, she said to herself as she stared at the shiny brass handle just below the frosted windows of the imposing double doors. Butterflies the size of Pterodactyls swirled around her stomach, prompting the very valid question of: What am I doing here?
“Excuse me,” a young man said as he and his equally well-groomed date approached the door.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Dani stepped aside.
He opened the door and held it ajar, turning to her with a smile, “After you.”
That’s your cue. She thanked him and stepped into the foyer. It had dawned on her during the drive over that she and Nick had not gone into any specifics about how they would find each other once at the restaurant. Was he also planning to wait in the foyer? Did he already reserve a table inside? No doubt they were both too uneasy during the phone call to dive into further details. But now, she wished they had spent an extra 30 seconds on forging a better plan.
A text message notification chimed on her phone, and she scrambled to grab it out of her purse.
Hi, just letting you know I’m inside when you get here. I’m at a table but can come meet you in the front.
Dani breathed half a sigh of relief. The other half was still stuck in her throat. She quickly texted back: I’m heading inside now. Plz wave when you see me. I’ll be the nervous woman in a red dress.
She hesitated about revealing her anxiousness, then figured there was no harm in being truthful. Besides, she couldn’t imagine that he was actually feeling overly calm about the situation himself. She tapped the send button, then quickly gave herself a once-over. Lifting a cream-colored, fringed shawl from her shoulders, she smoothed over her sleeveless red stretchy cotton dress that fell just above the knees. Good to go. Next, she lifted each foot by several inches to examine her cream-colored strappy heeled sandals, wincing at the unsightly bruise on her calf. That’ll teach you, she thought as she recalled trying to balance a plate of food in one hand, a phone and three case files in the other—and all while walking by a glass coffee table in her living room that seemed to disappear from her line of vision whenever she over-multitasked. Okay, no Gypsy fur on the dress. No recent scuffs on the shoes. Let’s do this!
She opened the door into the main restaurant area, immediately taking note of the dim, golden lighting, soft background music and hum of mingling conversations that created an inviting, low-key ambiance. As she scanned the dining area, a handsomely familiar face popped up, followed by a hand that waved in her direction. At least this time, there wasn’t a speeding ticket on the end of it. See? It’s all good.
Her positive outlook continued to improve once she realized that Nick might actually be smiling at her. As she approached the table, he pulled out her chair and waited for her to be seated.
“Let me get that,” he said as she started to remove her shawl.
“Thanks,” she replied, surprise in her voice, as he gently draped it across the back of her chair. Dressed in dark gray khaki pants and a navy polo-style shirt, Nick quickly dispelled the notion that police officers are infinitely more attractive in uniform. As he returned to his seat across from her, she caught a breeze of col
ogne that she thought must be infused with pheromones. How else to explain the strong pull of attraction that she was suddenly feeling?
“So, have you ever been here before?” she asked.
An innocuous question, except that Nick blurted the same one out—and at the exact same moment.
Dipping his head, he laughed quietly. “I guess this is all kind of awkward, huh?”
Dani felt the trapped half breath from back in the foyer finally release. “Yes, I think I’d have to agree with that.” Her face softened as the last remnants of earlier tension slipped away.
“Well, let me start by saying you look very nice.”
“Thank you. So do you.”
“I purposely asked you to meet me tonight rather than during the week because I was afraid if you walked in here wearing one your court suits, I might have a panic attack.”
Dani had just taken a sip of water that was already at the table, spitting out half the contents as she choked. She couldn’t be sure what had tripped her up more. The notion that someone as sturdy and unflappable as Nick would have a panic attack over anything, least of all the recollection of Sean’s court hearing. Or the fact that he had enough of a sense of humor to joke about what had clearly been an unpleasant scenario for him.
“Well, glad I didn’t scare you.” She exaggeratedly turned her head in the direction of the main entrance. “And good to know I can make a quick getaway in case you start in on my profession again.”
Nick flashed a bemused look. “Fair enough.”
The waiter approached the table and gently placed menus before them. A middle-aged, slightly built man with a regal nose and pencil moustache, he looked as though he had been transported directly from a Paris eatery—down to the white suit coat and black bow tie. When he politely informed them that his name was Pierre, it only added to the Parisian flare.
“Can I interest either of you in a cocktail before dinner?”
