Excerpt
“Finn? Are you all right?”
His eyes snapped open. Lisa Peretti stood before him, barefoot, her sandals held in one hand. Wary sympathy shone from her dark eyes.
Great. How much had she overheard? “Fine. How are you?”
Smooth. Very smooth.
“Not bad. For what it’s worth, ‘deformed’ is a little over the top. As a medical professional, I wouldn’t use that phrase.”
“So you heard all that.”
She nodded. Her glance flickered down his body, and it seemed she wanted to say something else. But she didn’t. She probably wasn’t one for empty expressions of sympathy.
“Fan-tastic. I’m trying to figure why I keep embarrassing myself in front of you and I’m coming up blank.” He grabbed the champagne bottle and took another swallow. “Drink?”
“I’m good. I don’t drink when I’m working.”
“So I’m drinking alone, then. One more embarrassing moment, in case you’re counting.” He toasted her with the bottle then set it aside. Any more and he might throw up. That would definitely put him in the Humiliation Hall of Fame for good.
She came toward the bench and sat next to him. Not right next to him, but close enough so he could inhale her scent, something light and spicy. “So, uh…I have a question for you,” she said.
“The answer is yes.”
She laughed. “Do you ever stop flirting?”
“This? This isn’t flirting. Believe me, you’ll know when I get back into flirting.” Suddenly he felt a hell of a lot better than he had a few minutes ago. In a flash, this wedding had gone from endless tedium to something more like exhilaration.
“Will there be more cheesy pick-up lines?” She clasped her hands at her throat and fluttered her eyelashes at him. “A girl can dream.”
“Speaking of dreams… Do your legs hurt from running through my dreams all night?”
She groaned. “Worst ever. You keep topping yourself. It’s a gift.”
“Yeah, kind of like that gift from your great-aunt Gertrude that you can’t return because she’d be insulted.”
“Oh, I doubt it. I’m sure that kind of thing works on most people.”
“That kind of thing?”
She smoothed out a wrinkle on her dress. The night breeze lifted the long strands of hair that had come loose. “You know, the charming thing.”
“I’ve had nearly an entire bottle of champagne, but I’m pretty sure you just called me charming.”
“And I said it doesn’t work on me.”
He squinted up at the night sky. The lanterns overheard swayed, sending shadows chasing across the lawn. “No, you didn’t. You said it worked on most people.”
“But I’m not most people.”
“Now that,” he looked back at her, “is for sure. One hundred percent.”
It was a little hard to tell in the light of the lanterns, but it looked like she was blushing under his gaze. “I’m never going to go out with you, Finn.”
She sounded so serious that it took him aback. Never? “Why not?”
“I’m not interested in dating anyone. I won’t be in Jupiter Point for long. Even if I were…” She bit her lip, glancing away from him.
With all that champagne in his system, he went for the joke. “Let me guess. I’m too charming, funny, handsome and irresistible.”
“Exactly.”
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