I couldn’t tell ifthat was a compliment or an insult so I chose to move on.Oh, did I say move on? I meant, poke the bear.“Picture thembursting with peonies.”
He looked up at meand where I was expecting to find a battle in his eyes, I found only amusement.“I’m not sure I even know what a peony looks like.”
I couldn’t help butsmile. “Cute,” I repeated. “It looks cute.”
The corners of his mouthlifted in a devastating smile that reached all the way to his rich, chocolateeyes. My breath whooshed out of me in a surprised exhale. I had expected him toargue with me, to challenge my taste. I did not expect him to soften and warm,andlook like that.
I bit down on mybottom lip, schooling my expression and filling up with irritation. I wantedhim to pick a fight with me. I wanted him to dismiss me for an important callor forget I even existed. I did not need him smiling at me and giving me all ofhis focus and talking about Aladdin—which everybody knew was the hottest of theDisney princes.
I blamed the Hammerpants and cartoon abs.
“So, what’s thefinal head count?” he asked.
Happy to havesomething to focus on, I answered quickly. “Fifty-ishI think? I’m not totally sure because a lot of Killian’s friends were maybes.Or they were planning on coming late, after they closed their kitchens.”
Ezra chuckled alow, throaty sound. “That’s why I picked a Friday night,” he confessed. “I washoping they would all have to work.”
“Are you serious?”I asked because I couldn’t tell. “Won’t that make Killian mad?”
“I did itforKillian. Honestly, he could careless if anyone from the industry showed. He has Vera. That’s what matters tohim.”
I wondered if Ezraunderstood the point of an engagement party at all. The plan was to invite allof the happy couples’ friends so they could bring gifts or money, or simplyshow up and shower them with love. It was all about support and camaraderie. Ithad nothing to do with making Killian and Vera feel comfortable. Obviously.
“So does fifty-ishinclude your date?” Ezra asked casually.
I waved off anyidea of him flirting with me because that was basically insane. “I think Stephmentioned setting me up with someone? But I can’t remember his name.”
Ezra’s smiledisappeared in favor of his usual frown. “Steph that works for me?”
“Yeah.”
“How do you knowSteph?”
“Wyatt,” Iexplained. Then I canted my head to the side, wondering how aloof this manreally was. “Wyatt and I are friends.”
“Is that who Stephis setting you up with?”
“God, no,” Ilaughed. “No, this guy is from a different restaurant I think. And not a headchef. Steph was very adamant that I don’t want to date a chef.”
“You don’t,” Ezraagreed. He must have seen confusion all over my face because he quickly added.“I currently employ several of them and they’re not dating material. They’rethe worst.”
“Even Killian?” Iteased.
“EspeciallyKillian. Although he doesn’t work for me anymore.”
“Well, this guy isa server somewhere? Or bartender? I can’t remember the details. Honestly, I’mthe token single friend at this point. I’m set up so often I’ve stoppedbothering to remember their names, let alone their professions.”
Ezra’s smilereturned and with it my heart fluttered and unwanted butterflies took flight.He opened his mouth to say something more, but we were interrupted by a hardknock on the door and Wyatt’s head popping in. “Oh, sorry,” Wyatt mumbledbarely sounding apologetic. “Karen Savoy is here. She wants to have a word withyou. And me, apparently.”
Ezra’s pleasantexpression disappeared and he was once again all business, completely serious.“I’ll be out in a moment.” To me he said, “Thanks again, Molly. I’ll see youtomorrow.”
I smiled pleasantlyand said goodbye to Wyatt and Ezra so they could deal with Karen Savoy—whoeverthat was. Deciding to forget about my almost normal conversation with Ezra, Iran the rest of my errands and picked up Chinese takeout on the way home. Ispent the remainder of the night watching a documentary on an unsolved murderand freaking myself way out, even though all I wanted to do was paint.
But when I finallyfell asleep, after at least twenty minutes of hysteric worrying, I was proud ofmyself for leaving my paints alone. And the memories of Ezra’s smiling mouth.And his crinkled eyes. The way he gentled and heated and became something elseentirely.
When I woke up inthe morning, I checked my email and fought the urge to paint all of him overagain.
