“I would have approached you sooner, but I was waiting for your fans to disperse.”
She took his hand. “I’m all yours now.”
“Hey, Cara, you have to try this spanakopita.” Jack joined them and thrust a phyllo triangle perched on a cocktail napkin at her. “They have a first-class spread here. You must really rate.”
Cara sent Brad a silent apology. “A slight delay in my promise.”
“No worries. It will be worth the wait.” His slow, intimate smile sent a rush of warmth radiating through her.
Thank heaven the man she’d given her heart to was a good sport. One who liked her siblings and their significant others, and who’d blended seamlessly into the family group. He’d handled Jack’s third degree at their first meeting with consummate skill, winning kudos from Bri and respect from her brother.
As her family chatted and chowed down, a newspaper reporter approached, demanding her attention. After that, several members of the audience cornered her to ask questions about her research and offer tidbits about relatives who’d lived in the Old Mines area.
Through it all, Brad stayed by her side, offering support but never trying to step into the spotlight or inject himself into the conversation. Thanks to the quiet self-confidence he radiated that instilled trust and respect in everyone he met, he didn’t have to seek the limelight to shore up his own sense of worth.
Heaven had smiled on her the day he’d walked into her life.
An hour later, after the last guests departed and she wavedgoodbye to her siblings with a promise to arrive early next week to help Bri set up for Lindsey’s bridal shower, Cara expelled a long breath. “I am so ready to ditch these heels and chill.”
“Then let’s go.” Brad took her hand and led her out the door, toward the parking lot. “You and I have some celebrating to do.”
“I thought we just did that. The university put on a lovely reception.”
“How much did you eat?”
“Hmm. A spanakopita?”
“That’s what I figured. I have a dinner reservation for us.”
Of course he did.
Brad was thoughtfulness personified.
“Thank you for that. Where are we going?”
At the high-end spot he named, she did a double take. “After all the dinners you’ve treated me to at our favorite hideaway in the hinterland, you don’t have to break the bank tonight.”
“Special days merit special attention. I’m glad the paper you wrote, and all the research you did, got the acclaim they deserved, but I want to do my small part to mark the occasion.”
“Well ... since you put it that way.” She rose on tiptoe and stole a kiss before she slid into the passenger seat of his car.
But when he pulled out of the parking lot, she frowned. “Wait. The restaurant is the other direction.”
“I know. It’s a little early for dinner, though. I thought we could take a short drive through the countryside on this beautiful April afternoon. That work for you?”
Unexpected—but why not?
“Sure.”
She toed off her heels, settled back in her seat ... and gave him a surreptitious scan as he accelerated down the road.
Nothing obvious was amiss, but there was an odd undercurrent buzzing through the car.
Something was up.
Strange.
It wasn’t like him to keep her in the dark. In general, he shared whatever was on his mind.
