“Shouldn’t we call Emily?”
Right. Emily. Yes. They should call Emily. They would call Emily. She would only be here until tomorrow, and then she would go home.
It had been a long time since Gil had wanted Emily to go home. Come to think of it, he couldn’t remember a time when he’d ever wanted her to leave. But the time had come. With that thought, he called Emily.
When he pulled into the parking lot of his favorite Mexican restaurant twenty minutes later, he almost couldn’t believe what he was seeing.
Almost.
Emily was already there, waving at them from an outdoor table. And she wasn’t alone. Zane was there, along with Tessa, Luke, and Faith.
Ivy flicked a glance at him, then returned it to the crowd. “Looks like the gang’s all here.”
Was she nervous? Unhappy? Gil couldn’t get a read on it, but something about the crowded table didn’t seem to sit well with Ivy. Not that he could blame her. Emily had ambushed them both. “Sorry about this. I knew she was up to something this morning.”
Ivy’s smile was tremulous but, as far as he could tell, sincere. “It’s fine. I recognize them. Zane was with you last night. And I met Luke and Faith last year. Is the woman talking to Emily another agent? Tessa maybe?”
“You’re batting a thousand, Dr. Collins.”
Ivy reached across her body with her left hand and rested it on the door handle. “I’m guessing if we don’t go, it will only make things worse.”
She had no idea.
He would have liked to open her door for her, but she was too quick and had climbed from the car before he had a chance. And it wasn’t like they were on a date or anything. Still, he stayed close as they joined the table. There was a flurry of greetings, introductions, handshakes, and hugs. When everyone moved back to their seats, it was clear that Emily had arranged them with the ladies on one end, the men on the other. Gil held Ivy’s chair until she was settled, then sat beside her, putting him across from Luke and Zane and nowhere near his sister, which was fine with him. But he took a moment to make eye contact with her. Without exchanging more than a look, he knew Emily knew he was annoyed, she didn’t care, and she was still up to something.
Great.
When he looked across the table, Luke and Zane were grinning at him. “She’s a force to be reckoned with.” Luke spoke in a low voice that wouldn’t carry.
Zane studied Ivy for a few moments longer than Gil thought absolutely necessary before he muttered, “She okay?”
Gil gave a small shake of his head while pretending to study his menu. Luke and Zane knew him well enough to interpret the response correctly. He had a lot of thoughts to share, and he would, but not with Ivy sitting a foot away.
After ordering his usual and memorizing Ivy’s order for what he hoped would be future reference, Gil listened as his sister did what she’d obviously been planning all along.
Emily was playing matchmaker, although thankfully not in thetraditional sense of the word. By the time lunch was over, Ivy Collins had two new best friends in Tessa and Faith. They’d already planned to meet for lunch on Tuesday, and there was talk of going to a movie next weekend. Emily was no longer leading the conversation but instead was sitting back and listening as the women made plans. Plans she wouldn’t be a part of.
Gil’s hand rested on the back of Ivy’s chair, and Emily reached across and gave his arm a squeeze. He looked at her and she mouthed, “You’re welcome.”
She was going to be insufferable.
In the hours since breakfast, she’d managed to make sure Ivy had people she could have fun with outside of work. She’d also pulled Ivy into his circle, and now he would have lots of opportunities to spend time with her without it being weird or even a real date.
Ivy and Emily pushed back their chairs. “We’ll be back.” They both had their purses. Probably headed inside to the ladies’ room.
“We’ll come too.” Faith and Tessa rushed to join them, and he noted with relief that both women were armed. Tessa patted his arm as she passed him and whispered, “We’ve got this, Romeo.”
Faith ran a hand across Luke’s shoulders as she walked by, then leaned in between Luke and Zane and whispered to Gil, “You’d better spill all and fast. I want details.”
Then she followed Tessa inside.
Luke and Zane both burst into laughter. “I told Faith months ago that Ivy was your type. Clearly, I wasn’t wrong.”
“It’s not—”
“We bust in and find her being abused by those guys and the next thing I know, Tessa tells me Emily’s driving down from DC and Ivy’s staying at your place. That’s not fast. That’s breaking the sound barrier.”
“I’ve known her my entire life.”
