Matching Mr. Right(59)
After they sat, Shelby handed him a napkin and smiled. “He’s good in bed and cooks too? Best one-night stand ever.”
He held her gaze. “That wasn’t a one-night stand, Shelby. I’ll be busy with a client who’s flying in for the weekend, so will you have dinner with me tonight?”
“Sure.” Her eyes lit up as she nibbled on a piece of bacon. “Maybe we should stay in and finish off that pizza?”
“Sounds like a plan.”
He’d find a way to tell her the truth so she’d understand.
Problem solved.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
“Chester needed a foolproof plan to convince Julie to go to the dance with him.”
Chester is in Love
Nick leaned back in his leather chair at work, propped his loafers onto his desk, and bounced a Styrofoam basketball off the ceiling. He needed a come-clean plan.
Maybe on Monday, after he signed the deal with his new client he could celebrate with Shelby. He’d take her to that great Italian place where he’d met the crazy crystal lady. Shelby said the lasagna was her favorite.
Over dessert, he’d tell her he loved her, and then . . . what? Ease into it by explaining about his grandmother? How Grams had tears in her eyes when she’d begged him to save Lori’s business? For Emily’s sake. Explain he hadn’t wanted to hurt her, and then reinforce how last night had been the best night of his life?
No, that wouldn’t work. It made her seem less important than his family. She’d probably tell him he was a jerk and dump her tiramisu over his head.
Shelby’d do it, too.
He chuckled as he caught the spongy ball bouncing back toward his face.
No, he should tell her he loved her right up front—but that he’d made a Chester-like mistake and promise nothing like it would ever happen again. Then he’d tell her what he’d done. Which really wasn’t anything because he hadn’t given the report to his sister, but Shelby wouldn’t see it that way once she found out Lori was a matchmaker too.
Then he’d grovel if necessary.
Yeah. That might work. And to keep his promise to Grams, he’d come clean with Lori and convince her she needed to accept his help to bring her business into the twenty-first century. Lori had excellent instincts when it came to matching people up, just like his grandmother had. Lori just needed to expand her business and networking skills.
Done and done.
Swinging his feet to the floor, he waggled his mouse and searched for the restaurant to make a reservation for Monday night. The sooner he got the truth out the better.
A loud beep interrupted his date-planning. “Mr. Caldwell? Mr. Duncan’s assistant is on the line. He wonders what time the dinner reservation is for tomorrow night?”
“Seven. And would you call Beth Gunderson and ask if she can join us? Our new client is looking for legal counsel too.”
“Will do.”
If Beth weren’t the best in her field he’d have found someone else. But he wanted to nail down the deal. It was a big contract. It’d bring in a ton of new work if he could handle the buy-out Duncan had in mind. It’d be a tough challenge, but one he was up for. Failure was not an option. Could be the most important weekend of his career.
After he’d made the dinner reservation for Monday with Shelby, he closed the restaurant page and got back to work. If he could get the final touches on the proposal done before lunch, he’d go eat with Shelby at the café.
Just the thought of sharing a meal with Shelby made him smile. Man he had it bad for her.
***
Shelby hadn’t stopped grinning since Nick left earlier. And she couldn’t wait to spread her happy news. Slapping the café kitchen doors open, she found her target. Jo stood at a steel countertop with her hands buried deep in bread dough.
Waving the papers Nick brought the night before in front of Jo’s face, she said, “I’m finally guilt-free.”
“What are you talking about?” Jo sprinkled flour on the tabletop.
“My family. The fire. It wasn’t me. See?” Shelby held the paper steady and pointed.
Jo punched her floury dough out on her table as she leaned down to read the highlighted sentence. Tilting her head as she took it in, Jo suddenly threw her messy hands around Shelby and pulled her into a tight hug. “Oh, Shelby. That’s the best news ever. You must be so relieved.” Jo held on and rocked them back and forth as she sniffed back her tears. Jo understood the huge impact that the one sentence carried. She was the best friend a girl could ever have.
Shelby nodded against Jo’s shoulder. “It’s like I lost the twenty pounds of regret I’ve made myself haul around all these years.”