Drunk on Love(30)

Damn it, why was he giving her secret little eyebrow raises when he was on a date with another woman? She tried not to let her expression change.

“Are you—” Luke started, but just then, their server came over with their entrées.

“Oh! I’m sorry, are your friends joining you?”

“No,” Margot said, she hoped not too sharply. “Thank you.”

Luke took a step back.

“We shouldn’t keep you. I, um— See you tomorrow, Margot. Nice to meet you, Sydney.”

Margot nodded, and tried not to look at him.

“Yeah, see you tomorrow. Talk to you soon, Avery.”

They walked away, presumably to another table, though Margot forced herself not to turn her head to see where they were, and just concentrated on the steak in front of her.

“Okay,” Sydney said after about thirty seconds. “They’re out of earshot.”

Margot’s head shot up.

“Are you sure? Like, positive?”

Sydney nodded.

“I mean, if you start shouting again, then no, but yes, we can carry on a low conversation about what the fuck just happened without them hearing us.”

Margot took a gulp of her drink.

“Great, because what the fuck just happened, Syd? Did my employee, who I—accidentally—slept with, and now can’t fucking stop thinking about, much to my dismay, just walk in here on a motherfucking date? With Avery Jensen, of all people?”

Sydney cut a scallop in half.

“Yes to all of those things, but why ‘of all people’? I thought you liked Avery?”

Margot cut into her steak, probably more vehemently than the steak deserved.

“I do like her! She’s great! She’s also young and skinny and has gorgeous hair and probably perfect perky boobs, all things I do not!”

Sydney paused, her scallop halfway to her mouth.

“Hey. You have great boobs. And fantastic hair.”

Margot rolled her eyes.

“Yes, when I work at it. Avery has that effortless sun-kissed-curls thing going on. When I try that, I just look bedraggled.” She grimaced. “See? I should have tried to go out on dates to get him out of my head! I should go pick up a stranger at a bar, or something, and make it even better than last time, so I know the magic is in me, not fucking Luke Williams.”

“In a manner of speaking,” Sydney said.

Margot glared at her.

“I didn’t say anything,” Sydney said.

“That’s what I thought,” Margot said.

Margot stabbed her steak again.

“You know it’s killing me that my back is to them, right?”

“Oh, I know,” Sydney said. “You’re doing great at not turning around, though. I’m really impressed.”

“Thank you. I appreciate that.” Then suddenly she grinned, and Sydney grinned back at her. And then they both started laughing.

“Only me,” Margot said, when they finally subsided.

Sydney shook her head.

“Oh God no, definitely not. Do you know how small Napa Valley is? Things like this happen all the time. Everyone knows each other.”

Margot sighed.

“I know. Did I tell you . . . when he kissed me, outside the Barrel that night, that’s what I told him—that we couldn’t do that there, that too many people know me.”

Sydney laughed again.

“Well, that’s both absolutely true and a very slick way to invite yourself back to his bed.”

Margot shook her head.

“No, no, I would have invited him back to mine, but his place was closer!”

And then they cracked up again.



* * *





“?‘HAVING DINNER?’ DID I really say ‘having dinner’ like that?” Luke asked Avery.

She nodded, a huge grin on her face.

“You did indeed.”

“Why would I ask that question? Like it’s not completely obvious they’re having dinner, when they’re at a restaurant table at seven thirty p.m.? What else would they be doing? Plotting to overthrow the government? Baking a cake? Watching a movie? What is wrong with me?”

Luke glanced over at Margot and Sydney’s table. They were diagonal from them in the restaurant, but Margot’s back was to him. From the look on Sydney’s face, though, they were having a great time.

“Nothing’s wrong with you,” Avery said. “You were just a little taken aback, that’s all, by running into your boss outside the office.”

Luke glared at her.

“Okay, fine, you were a little taken aback by running into your boss who you slept with the night before she became your boss outside your office. Better?”

“And that same morning, too,” Luke muttered.

Avery made a face.

“Please, no more details. But you recovered from it quickly!”

He absolutely had not. He still wasn’t recovered from it, as a matter of fact. Because not only did he have to deal with the shock of seeing Margot, he’d also quickly recognized that Sydney had been the bartender at the Barrel that night. She must own it; that must be what Margot had meant by local restaurateur.

But also . . .

“When were you going to tell me that you and Margot were meeting for breakfast? I didn’t even know that you two knew each other,” he said. He tried to keep his voice casual, but by the way her eyes swooped up from the menu, he’d clearly failed.