Gavin gives her a knowing look. “I have a feeling you had another reason to stick around that day. I ran into Gabe at the Baine Building last week. He told me you two are engaged.”
“We are.” She flashes the diamond solitaire on her left hand, beaming with unrestrained joy. “We haven’t set a date or anything yet, but I hope it’s soon.”
“Congratulations,” Gavin says. “He seems like a great guy.”
She nods. “He’s the best. I’ve never been happier.”
“Glad to hear it. When the time comes for menu planning, let me know if you’d like help. I’m sure I could come up with something special for your big day.”
“Are you serious?”
“It’d be my honor,” he says, those dimples back for a return performance as he smiles at Evelyn, then nods at Paige and me. He pauses then, his brows furrowing as his gaze lights on me. “You were here a few nights ago at dinner.”
“I was.” God, that date with Daniel seems like it happened months ago.
“Well, it’s nice to see you here again. I must be doing something right in the kitchen to bring you back so soon,” Gavin says, pride making his bright green eyes gleam.
Paige lets go of a saucy laugh. “I’ll bet you do everything right. In the kitchen and elsewhere.”
I roll my eyes, even though he seems unfazed by my friend’s blatant objectification. “Ignore her, please. Lunch was delicious.”
“I aim to please.” He taps the edge of our table. “Have a great day, ladies.”
“Oh. My. God,” Paige says once he’s gone. “Talk about delicious. Which reminds me, I really need to get laid.”
Evelyn nearly chokes on her white wine. “You’re unbelievable. Are you going for a world record, or something? I think what you really need is to find a good man and settle down.”
“That’s easy for you to say, Eve. You found yours.”
I thought I’d found mine in Daniel, too. Or maybe I wanted to believe that so much, I had myself convinced he was everything I could possibly want in a man.
Those illusions began to crack the night he brought me here for dinner, then on to Jared Rush’s poker game. As hurtful as it was to learn about Daniel’s gambling problems the way I did, it isn’t fair for me to pretend any longer that things between us can ever be what they were before.
Meeting Jared Rush changed all of that, in more ways than I want to consider.
17
MELANIE
My thoughts are still churning after we’ve finished lunch and paid the bill. As we wait for the valet to bring Evelyn’s Volvo around, a white SUV rolls up to the curb outside the restaurant. A group of three men dressed in suits on a Saturday afternoon climb out of the vehicle with another, more casually attired group wearing khakis and pastel-colored polo shirts. They’re engaged in animated conversation, lots of grins and chuckling as they gather next to the SUV while a valet jogs over to assist them.
I might only give them a passing glance, but then I notice theCrowne & Merritt Architectslogo on the passenger door of the SUV. One of the suited men is Daniel. I quickly turn my head away from him, an impulse I can neither control nor explain.
All I know is I don’t want to see him right now. I’m not ready to deal with—
“Melanie?” His voice cuts through the traffic noise and chatter of his companions, impossible to ignore.
“Well, isn’t this some piss-poor timing,” Paige mutters under her breath from beside me, echoing the reaction going on inside my own head. “Where the hell’s our getaway car when we need it?”
“I can’t ignore him.”
Evelyn catches my troubled gaze. “You sure? Here comes my car. We can be gone in the next five seconds.”
Part of me would like nothing better than to flee the scene and not look back, but running has never been the way I handle problems. Never mind that’s what I fully intend to do where Jared Rush is concerned.
Daniel motions me over to him, a big, welcoming smile plastered across his face. “Melanie, sweetheart, come here for a minute.”
I exhale a pent-up sigh. “I’ll be right back.”
