The Singles Table (Marriage Game #3)(35)

He was only seconds away from tasting her lips when she shattered the moment with the terrible words, “Let’s dance!”

Before he could process the shock of his lips meeting only cool air, a firm hand clamped down on his shoulder. “Jay! I thought that was you.”

Jay turned and tore his mind away from unrequited desire and the throb of his pulse in his groin. Work. Business. Investor. Thomas.

“Thomas.” He squeezed the banker’s hand. “Nice to see you.” His gaze flicked over Thomas’s shoulder to the octopus with the double-jointed hips, but Zara had positioned herself out of his reach.

“Don’t tell me you were about to dance.” Thomas chuckled. “I don’t think the board would go for a CEO who breaks out the zapateado in the middle of negotiations.”

“No. Of course not.” He gave a dismissive laugh. “I was looking for the waiter so I can pay the bill and get back to the office.”

“He might be over at our table. Brittany had some questions about the menu. She likes everything to be perfect for our clients.”

Of course she did. But he would rather be here watching Zara dance in a battered sombrero than at another stuffy corporate dinner where he had to worry about everything from the fork he used to the placement of his napkin.

Thomas leaned in, raising his voice over the music. “Yours isn’t the only company considering international expansion.”

“I’m not afraid of a little competition,” he said with a confidence he didn’t feel in the least.

“How is that lawsuit going?” Thomas asked.

“We’re still working on it.” He couldn’t lie but he also couldn’t tell Thomas they’d just lost their chance to have the case thrown out of court. If he was here with another potential client, Jay wasn’t about to hand him the knife to stab J-Tech in the back.

“Good man.” Thomas clapped him on the shoulder. “I’ll leave you to it. Keep in touch.”

Jay returned to the table and sent a quick message to Elias to let him know that Thomas was exploring other investment opportunities. What the hell was he doing here? He had work piling up on his desk, and he still needed to figure out how to deal with the lawsuit before it destroyed his dream of taking J-Tech to the top. Instead, he was wasting time with a woman who was determined to find a match he didn’t even want. Why had he jumped on her crazy bandwagon to a place he wasn’t even ready to go? He flagged down the waiter and requested the bill. By the time Zara returned to the table, he had counted out the tip.

Her smile faded when she saw the receipt. “Are you leaving?”

“I was just being efficient. I need to get back to the office and this way we won’t have to wait after we’re done.”

Zara sat across from him and two-fisted her giant margarita glass, her face disappearing when she took a big sip. “I know what happened. You saw me dancing with the mariachi band and you thought there was no way I could find you a serious match.”

Her assessment hit a little too close to home. “Actually, I was thinking that I need the banker in the corner to finance the international expansion of my company and that’s not going to happen if he sees me dancing around a restaurant like a fool.”

Zara froze, the glass partway to her lips. “You think I looked foolish.”

“No. Of course not.” He backtracked quickly, giving himself a mental kick for his thoughtless words. He wasn’t angry with her, but with himself. For a few seconds, he’d forgotten what mattered, imagined something that wasn’t there. “I enjoyed watching you dance. I wish I could feel that free.”

“You can.” She smiled, but her eyes had lost their sparkle.

“I have to be this man,” he said, patting his tie.

“You can be any man you want to be. It’s up to you how you choose to live your life.”

Bristling at the unspoken admonition, he snapped, “The way you chose to be a lawyer instead of pursuing your dream?”

Zara put down her drink, her brow creasing. “The way I chose to be this lawyer,” she said. “I didn’t fit in with the eighteen-hours-a-day, dress-in-black, stab-each-other-in-the-back-as-you-climb-to-the-top crowd but I kept trying because I wanted to make my family happy. I was mulling over Lucia’s offer when I met Tony Cruz. He interviewed me wearing a Yoda hat while his partner Rollerbladed around the office because he thinks best on wheels. I knew right away they were my people because they made me want to take a risk. Do I still dream of being onstage? Yes. But I volunteer in community theater so I can get my musical fix while working for a firm that is committed to helping the little guy instead of lining the pockets of their corporate clients.”

“I’m sorry,” he said contritely. “I was out of line.” What had gotten into him? He didn’t think less of her or the firm she was with. Instead he admired Zara for her courage, for taking a risk, for knowing herself well enough to go looking for the firm that would suit her best.

“Yes, you were.” She ate her meal in silence, watching the band now singing on the other side of the restaurant.

“If you don’t want to go through with our arrangement, I understand,” Jay said, desperate to get her talking again. Zara wasn’t a quiet person and her silence just felt wrong. “I shouldn’t have said what I did.”