Forever With Me(12)
“Who’s the lucky guy?” Emily asks.
“Ed Brenner,” she replies. “He volunteers at the historical society with me, and after making him wait for a while, I finally said yes to dinner.”
“Good for you,” I tell her happily.
“How about you, honey?” Wilma asks. “Do you have a date tonight?”
I turn wide eyes on Emily, who just smiles and waits for me to answer with the others.
“No, ma’am.”
“I have a very handsome grandson,” Wilma replies. “He’s sixty, though, so that might be a bit too old for you.”
“Just a bit,” I reply with a laugh.
“My grandson is thirty,” Miss Kitty says with a thoughtful look on her face. “He’s going through a messy divorce and has three kids, but I think you two would get along wonderfully.”
Not even if it were Armageddon and he was the last man on Earth.
“Oh, no thank you.”
“So, you’re just going to go home alone tonight?” Wilma asks with a sad face.
“Well, no, I’ll be spending the evening with Ben and Jerry,” I reply.
“She reads the naughty books too,” Miss Kitty says behind her hand to her sister, not bothering to be quiet.
If only my sex life were really that interesting.
***
He’s going to be late.
I check the time on my phone for the fifteenth time in the past twenty minutes and scowl.
I hate late.
The front door of the Starbucks near my condo swings open and I glance up. My jaw drops and my mouth goes dry at the sight of Dominic as he pulls his sunglasses off his face and scans the small coffee shop for me, his blue eyes heating when they rest on me.
He’s in a black T-shirt and jeans. The kind of jeans that mold around firm thighs and a tight ass and make a girl forget how to think.
Damn, what this man does to a pair of jeans. I rarely see him in jeans.
It’s a sight to behold.
“You’re almost late,” I inform him, as he approaches my table, making his lips twitch.
“But not quite,” he replies, and leans in to kiss my cheek, then places a bag on the floor by his chair. “Do you mind if I order a quick coffee?”
“Not at all,” I reply, and fist my hands in my lap so I don’t reach up and cover my cheek where his lips just were. I’m like a freaking lovesick teenager.
Check that. Horny teenager.
It’s disgusting.
I pull my notes up on my iPad and read through them while Dom orders his coffee and returns to me, carrying two cups, and places one next to me.
“What’s this?”
“Your tea,” he replies and sips his coffee.
“How did you know what I drink?”
“I asked the barista,” he replies with a smile. “Not a coffee drinker?”
“I hate it,” I reply with a shrug. “I prefer strong tea with honey.”
“So noted,” he replies softly. “How’s your head?”
I tilt my head and watch him for a moment. “Headache’s all gone. Your magical leaves worked.”
He laughs and shakes his head. “There’s no magic. My grandmother used to do that for us.”
“Us?” I ask before I can catch myself. What happened to keeping this strictly professional?
“My two cousins and myself. We all lived on my grandparent’s vineyard.”
“In Tuscany.”
“In Tuscany.” He nods and takes my hand in his, as if it’s the most natural thing in the world and laces his fingers with mine.
“I’m sure it’s beautiful there.” My eyes are locked on our hands.
Pull away, Alecia Marie. Right now.
“Mm.”
My eyes find his again and I have to blink and shake my head to pull myself out of his trance.
This man is potent.
I pull away and return to my iPad. “So, we need to go over the vendors for the wedding.”
“I’d like a list of the vendor’s employees as well,” he replies without missing a step.
“Why?”
“I want my security team to run background checks.”
“That’s not necessary—”
“Yes. It is.” He holds my gaze firmly. “This is my family, Alecia. My very public, wealthy, celebrity family. I have hired security, and they will run background checks on all of the vendors. Even you.”
“Me?!” I toss my head back and laugh. “I’ve been working with the Montgomery and Williams families for two years.”
“Why is that?” he asks and the smile immediately leaves my face.
“Excuse me?”
“I think it’s a valid question.”
“I think it’s an asshole question.”
He quirks a brow. “If you like.”