Every once in a while though, when he smiled at her like he was now, it was hard not to let out a dreamy sigh and pretend that he was secretly in love with her.
Ugh…I read too many romance novels…
“So,” she said a little too loudly. “What brings you here this morning? Milo’s on a conference call already and will probably be tied up for at least an hour.”
“Oh. I flew in last night with Nora, and she had a spa appointment this morning. I drove in with him and figured I’d come and say hey to you. But I stopped and grabbed us breakfast first.”
“Really?” And yeah, she kind of cringed at how giddy she sounded.
“Absolutely,” he told her. “But I also just got a call from my buddy who owns the plane I flew, and I wanted to let Milo know that I have it for the week so he can relax.”
“You really flew Nora here? How big is the plane?”
“Bigger than the seaplane we have at the resort. This particular one is called a super mid-sized jet and can handle ten passengers.”
“Who else are you planning on flying? That seems kind of big for just the three of you.”
“A smaller one would have been fine, but they don’t typically handle the cross-country distance. It’s 2,800 miles from the resort to Seattle, and the smaller jets can only handle up to 2,500. It’s not a big deal. We could have just stopped halfway and fueled up, but I was able to get the bigger one, so this just makes sense.” He paused. “That means there’s plenty of room for you if you change your mind…”
“I promise to think about it after the wedding,” she told him. “I’m pretty psyched about going to Costa Rica. I’ve never been there before.”
“It’s beautiful. You’ll enjoy it.” Another pause. “And it’s your brother who’s getting married?”
“Yup. He and his fiancée wanted a destination wedding, and that’s where they decided. I had put my vote in for Hawaii, but no one was really listening.”
“Hawaii’s beautiful too. You should check it out sometime. You know, after you come to the resort,” he said with another wink.
She was about to comment when she spotted Tucker walking toward them. Suddenly she felt a little flustered. Slater kept talking about the wonders of Hawaii and the beautiful waterfalls, but Evie began shifting things around on her desk, putting the wedding invitation in a prominent position so Tucker would have to see it and it could give her the perfect opportunity to bring up them going as each other’s dates.
Slater must have noticed the change in her behavior because he glanced over his shoulder and must have spotted Tucker too.
“Is that your boyfriend?”
She nodded distractedly, her heart racing like mad in her chest.
“Are you okay?” he asked quietly. “You’re being a little squirrely right now.”
“I’m fine. I just…” She glanced up and noticed Tucker talking to Grant from accounting, which meant she had a minute to tell Slater what she was planning. “We’re both invited to the wedding—the bride is his cousin—and I’m going to ask him if he’d like to go as my date.”
He looked mildly surprised. “You guys didn’t talk about it already? And he didn’t ask?”
Evie shook her head. “Nope. I kept waiting for him to do it, but he hasn’t, so…I’m going to do it.”
She didn’t know why he was frowning, but there wasn’t time for her to ask, either. Tucker was almost to her desk now, and she needed Slater gone.
“Shoo,” she whispered.
“What?”
“Shoo! I don’t want anyone hanging around while I do this.” Then she gave him her best pleading look. “Please.”
He stood, but he was still frowning. “Fine. I’ll just go and…quietly sit in Milo’s office.”
“Uh-huh. Great. Thanks.” Then she straightened and smiled. “Hey, Tucker!” She stood and waited for him to come around and kiss her, but he didn’t. He glanced at Slater, though.
“I’ll see you later, Evie,” Slater said before giving Tucker a hard glare and walking away.
“Wow, rude much?” Tucker murmured. “What’s his problem?”
