Allen cleared his throat. “Well, the owner of the company we’re working on this advertisement for said the man looked…wrong, like he was keeping a secret. Since the theme needs to be romantic, having the guy looking like he’s keeping secrets from the girl kind ofruinsit.”
“Perceptive owner,” Conniemumbled.
The table jolted and Connie bentover. “Ow.”
Lily took another bite. “Fine, different guy.Gotit.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes, each of them focusing on their food. Josh had trouble concentrating on his sandwich with her leg up against his, and finally set it back on hisplate.
“Oh, and the guy needs to look like he wants the girl as much as she wants him to want her,”Allensaid.
Lily shot up from the table and dumped her half-eaten sandwich in the trash before heading for her easel. “Then I better get to work if I’m going to finish thisontime.”
Josh wasn’t positive, but he guessed the guy in that drawing was someone Lily knew, and he’d hurt her. Yet why would a guy let such a beautiful, talented girl go without a fight, let alone hurt her? He tossed his own half-eaten sandwich into the trash. Now wasn’t the time to dig into that any further. He needed to stay focused on work. Besides, she was a grown-up. Who was he to try to help her through a tough time? “You could sketch a rough draft for us. We can take a look and go fromthere.”
“Fine,” Lily said without looking up from herpainting.
Josh had an overwhelming urge to take the paint brush out of her hand and pull her into his arms and comfort her, but he shook it off and headed for the door. “Okay, I’ll be in touch.Allen.”
“I guess we’ll have to talk more about New York next time,” Allen said to Connie. “Hey, do you know of any decent places to eat around here? I love trying localcuisine.”
Connie cleared their plates while Lily continued painting and Josh remained with his hand on the doorknob. “Yes, there’s Zach’s Shack. It has great seafood. Oh, and if you want something more upscale, I recommend Ray’s ontheBay.”
“Great. I’ll check them out.” Allen finally made it to the door, but stopped again and Josh nearly growled in frustration. “You said Lily had to be done with the painting by the end of the week, right?” At Connie’s nod, he continued. “Then we’ll take you gals out to Ray’s on the Bay Friday night tocelebrate.”
“Great,” Connie said with more enthusiasm than when she agreed to the sum of twenty-five thousand. “I love thatplace.”
Lily froze mid-stroke but didn’t say a word. Josh wrenched the door open and escaped into the fresh breeze, away from the smell of paint and perfume. The rain had slowed to a drizzle, but the humidity had kicked up a few notches, causing his clothes to instantly cling tohisskin.
“See you, then,” Allen said as he followedJoshout.
They made it halfway to the car before Josh turned and slugged him on the shoulder. “What the heck were you thinking askingthemout?”
Allen rubbed his shoulder as he walked ahead to the car and opened his door. “What? I thought you wanted this artwork done. You were going to blow it in there, so I was trying to lightenthemood.”
“Me? You’re the one who told her that guy didn’twanther.”
“What are you talking about?” Allen got in and shutthedoor.
Josh went around to the driver’s side and started the car. Then he sat for a moment, gripping the steering wheel with a strange sense of sorrow for Lily. “The guy in the sketch. It’s someone from her past and you basically just told her that it was obvious he didn’twanther.”
