“Spark?”
“Yeah.No spark, not with either of them.”
“Chemistry’s important.I guess you either have it or you don’t.”
Kind of like the little lasers zinging between them.Even though Claire was tempted to overanalyze the sensation, there was no denying the pleasing sting.It made the hair on her arms lift.
“You deserve to feel excitement.”Nick put down his plate of food.“Claire, I—”
A huge shout of triumph went up in the back room.
“I wonder what that was all about,” said Claire.
“My guess is Adele just beat Louie at foosball.”He put his hand to his ear.“Hear the other noise, the faint gnashing of teeth?I think that’s Louie crying.He’s never been dethroned.”
She laughed.“Adele is competitive.”
Other partygoers began to filter back into the living room and kitchen.Claire had a feeling Nick was about to say something important, but as some of the others returned to refill their plates, the moment was lost.One of the crew members excused himself and reached between them for a dinner roll.A couple of others lined up behind him.
Claire and Nick looked at each other over the guy’s shoulders.
“We’ll talk later?”said Nick.
“I’d like that.”
“Okay.Catch you later.”Nick nodded and went back into the living room.
Deflated, Claire stifled a sigh and poured herself a glass of white wine.
* * * *
This was turning into the longest night of Nick’s life.Pure torture.
Okay, maybe that wasn’t quite accurate.After all, people had gone to a lot of trouble on his behalf.All night long, friends and colleagues had been congratulating him.He’d been toasted by no fewer than five of the crew members.Everywhere he looked, someone was wishing him well.
He was grateful, he really was.
But no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t seem to steal Claire away for two minutes.Every time he walked in her direction, someone else headed him off at the pass.
A couple of hours ago, in the kitchen, he’d been about to ask her on a date.A real date that didn’t involve hungry contractors and Louie pretending to sulk about his foosball loss.Of course, Louie wasn’t really upset.He’d been grinning ever since Adele had trounced him.
Even now, Louie sidled up to Nick with a dreamy expression on his face.“She said yes.”
“Who said yes?”asked Nick.
“Adele.I asked her out a few minutes ago.I’ve got a date with Dr.Adele.”
“That’s awesome, Louie.”
“Yeah.”The big man wiped a bead of perspiration at his hairline.“But have you seen her?She’s gorgeous and smart and she plays, like, professional-level foosball.Plus, she puts broken little animals back together.She’s brilliant.I think I’m in love.”
“Whoa,” Nick said, laughing.“Do you think you might be jumping the gun there, buddy?”
“Nope.I’m definitely in love with that woman.I mean, I will be.I understand we need to get to know each other, but it was just so easy talking to her.She’s hilarious and she asked me so many questions about myself.She seemed so…interested.”
“Aw, I’m happy for you, my dude.”
“But why would she be interested in me?”
