Foreplay (The Ivy Chronicles #1)(64)

I blinked and fell silent as our pizza arrived. The waitress placed it on the table between us along with two plates.

“Oh,” I murmured, processing this bit of information.

“Now don’t look, but trust me when I say he hasn’t been able to stop glancing over here.”

I leaned forward in my chair. “Really?”

“Yeah. And now it’s just about to get better.”

I leaned forward a bit more, the steam from the pizza floating up to my face. “Better how?”

He leaned across the table and pressed his mouth to mine. I immediately forgot the impropriety of kissing in broad daylight in a public place. His mouth was warm and open against mine. The kiss branded me. Too intoxicating to resist. I immediately responded. His tongue slipped inside and stroked my own. Nothing around us existed. It was just his mouth on my mouth. My hands reached out, fingers grazing the planes of his face, touching but not quite. It was like if I touched him, he might vanish from me altogether.

A plate crashed nearby and I jerked. Reece pulled back ever so slightly. His lips still grazing mine, he murmured, “Very nice. That should do the trick.”

The air whooshed from my lips and I dropped back in my seat. “What?”

“Hunter can’t take his eyes off you right now. You should see his face—but no. Don’t look. I wouldn’t be surprised if he calls you tomorrow.”

Actually I wasn’t tempted to look. That was the sad thing. I was too busy staring at the guy I wanted to pull back across the table and keep on kissing.

Which was all kinds of f*cked up. I needed to get a grip on myself. Reece wasn’t the one. He wasn’t my one.

Gulping a deep breath, I folded my hands in my lap. “Oh.” I wasn’t sure how I felt that he had just staged that kiss. I hadn’t been thinking about Hunter with my lips locked to Reece’s. I should have been. But I wasn’t. Had Reece felt anything at all?

His gaze held mine. “Pretty good luck, huh.”

“What’s that?” Right now, I didn’t feel particularly lucky.

“Running into him here.”

“Yeah.” I nodded, watching as he dug into the pizza between us, serving one slice to each of us.

“Eat up.” He took a large bite from his slice.

I followed suit, willing the knots in my stomach to untie themselves.

He groaned, and the sound elicited all manner of wicked feelings inside me. “This is the best.”

I resisted the urge to smack him.

“It really is,” I agreed.

“Hey.” He reached across the table and covered my hand with his own. “It’s going to work out. You’ll see. You’ll get your guy.”

My heart clenched a little at his words. Suddenly I wasn’t so sure who that guy was anymore.





Chapter 22

Hunter called the following day. I’d forgotten that Reece had predicted as much. Or maybe I just blew the suggestion off. When his name popped up on my phone, I practically fell out of my chair. Standing, I took a deep breath and answered, managing to sound calm.

Yes. It was good to see you yesterday.

Yes, I’m well.

Yes. I’m looking forward to Thanksgiving, too. No problem. We can leave Wednesday at eight. My prof canceled my afternoon class, too. That sounds great.

It was a normal conversation and yet there had been a different tenor to it. Hunter laughed too readily. He sounded . . . nervous, asking more than once if I didn’t mind leaving so early in the morning. Not that he wasn’t always polite, but there was something different in the exchange.

I hated to admit it, but that staged kiss had maybe done some good, after all. He didn’t mention it, of course. His manners would never allow that. Nor did he even mention Reece, but Reece and that kiss were there, hanging between us, filling those moments of crackling silence. Reece had been right. Everything was falling into place. If I ever had a chance with Hunter, it was now. Another chance wouldn’t come. This was it.

The Monday before Thanksgiving, I found myself bypassing my route home after work and heading for Mulvaney’s. I told myself it was just because I wanted to let Reece know he had been right. His staged kiss had done the trick, after all. A simple thanks. That was all. Not because I wanted to see him. Not because he hadn’t texted me since our date.

At three in the afternoon, the place was dead. My tennis shoes fell silently on the plank floor. I found him inventorying behind the bar. He didn’t notice me approach.

“Hi.” I propped my elbows on the bar.

He looked up and smiled widely, immediately making me glad I came. “Hey. Where you been?” He set his clipboard down and gave me his attention. That glad feeling only increased knowing he had noted my absence over the weekend.

“I worked the last couple nights. The Campbells and another family.” I needed the money, especially after my car troubles.

“I wondered. Saw Emerson.”

“You know her. Never one to miss a good time.”

An awkward pause fell. I cleared my throat to fill it. “I owe you a thanks.”

“Yeah? What for?”

“Hunter. He called the next day. And he’s been texting me off and on.”

“Well. There you go.” He smiled again, but it seemed less than before. Or maybe that was just my imagination. My ego wanting him to feel something other than happiness for me moving forward with Hunter. “I told you he would call.”