Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 100661 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100661 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 503(@200wpm)___ 403(@250wpm)___ 336(@300wpm)
“I can’t tell if she’s his girlfriend or not.”
“It’s pretty obvious she is,” I said, lowering my hopes for this evening from to-mahto back to tomato. “But it doesn’t matter.”
“Maybe you could ask him.”
“Ari!” I laughed as the servers began setting salads down in front of each person at our table. “I’m not going to ask him who the girl is on his Instagram I saw while I was internet stalking him.”
“No, I guess you can’t.” She sighed and picked up her fork. “I wonder why he was flirting with you if he’s got a girlfriend. Unless he’s a jerk.”
“Like I said, he might not have been flirting. It’s fine.” I speared a cherry tomato and stuck it in my mouth. I really didn’t want him to be a jerk.
“Well, there are some other cute single guys here. My cousin Eric is single! I could introduce you. He’s a financial advisor in Traverse City.”
“Sure,” I said, poking at the second tomato on my plate. “Why not?”
During dinner, I forced myself not to look in Joe’s direction. Once, during dessert, I peeked at him and discovered he was looking at me. He smiled, but I had a mouth full of cake, so I just tipped up my lips and turned my attention back to one of Ari’s aunts, who was talking about her gall bladder removal.
After the dessert plates had been cleared away, the DJ switched from dinner music to dance music, and the floor filled with young people who jumped around with drinks in their hands and sang along to songs that made me feel old at thirty. I scanned the dance floor and noticed Joe wasn’t among the dancers, but I didn’t search the crowd for him. What was the point? If he had a girlfriend, I didn’t feel right flirting with him.
Instead, I went to the bar for another glass of champagne. When I returned to the table, Ari had dragged her cousin Eric over to meet me. She introduced us and said she’d be right back, she needed to use the restroom.
“Again?” I asked her.
She patted her belly. “It’s constant. I’ll leave you two to get acquainted.”
I saw right through her scheme, but Eric was friendly enough, and even if he wasn’t Joe-Lupo-level hot, he had a nice face. I took a seat and invited him to sit down next to me.
We chatted for about fifteen minutes—sometimes shouting to be heard over the music—about where we lived and what we did, about how hot the summer had been, about a thriller we’d both read recently. He was perfectly pleasant, but there were absolutely no sparks.
Which made sense because the next thing he said was, “The woman I just started dating wants to take a weekend getaway up here this fall. She’s into the foliage and stuff. What’s your best recommendation for a romantic inn in Cherry Tree Harbor?”
I gave him some recommendations for places to stay, restaurants I liked, and fun things to do. At some point in the conversation, I began to feel like someone was staring at me. I assumed it was Ari’s gaze I detected, but when I glanced over Eric’s shoulder, I saw Joe Lupo looking at me from across the room. Our eyes locked. His close-lipped smile made my inner thigh muscles clench. He jerked his head slightly toward the hallway. Meet me outside.
Something about the gesture was so confident, so hot, I couldn’t resist.
Offering Eric my hand, I wished him well and told him I hoped he and his friend would have a lovely trip this fall. “I should probably check in with Ari now. She gets tired easily.”
“Of course,” he said. “Nice to meet you.”
My pulse quickened as I skirted the dance floor and weaved through tables. Out in the hallway, Joe was waiting for me. “Hey, you. Having fun?”
“Yes,” I lied. “What about you?”
He shrugged. “It’s a lot of people.”
“It is.”
He took a step closer, sliding his hands in his pockets. “Want to go out on the balcony again? I think it stopped raining.”
I hesitated, and he noticed.
“Or not,” he said, backing off. “If you’d rather dance or something, we can go back into the ballroom. I just—”
“It’s not that,” I blurted. “It’s your girlfriend.”
“My girlfriend?” He looked confused.
“Yes. I—” Squeezing my eyes shut, I realized I had to confess now. “This is a bit embarrassing, but I suppose that’s on-brand for me at this point.” Hiccup!
“Go on.”
“Ari looked at your social media and saw a bunch of photos of the same woman. It looks like you have a girlfriend, and maybe I shouldn’t read into things, but I just feel weird about—hic!”
“Hey.” He touched my shoulder. “You hold your breath, and I’ll explain.”
I inhaled, trapping the breath in my lungs.
“I was dating someone for about eighteen months. That’s whose picture you saw. We split up in April, and we are staying that way.” His big shoulders lifted. “To be honest, I probably should have broken it off a lot sooner, but I didn’t want a messy breakup in the middle of playoffs.”