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I smile, in spite of my nerves and my questions. “I want this one,” I say, shaking my head. “I don’t need to try on any others. Besides, we have to get going, don’t we?”
Sean checks his watch. “Right,” he says. “Don’t bother changing out of it. I’ll go pay – and get you a bag to hold your dress in. Then we can head out to the restaurant.”
The prospect of eating dinner with him, even if not really ‘with’ him, sends a little thrill through me. Just spending more time in his orbit, just being able to see him, will make this night better than I could have imagined.
And in this dress, I’m going to feel a million bucks doing it.
Chapter Seven
Sean
“Alright, gentlemen,” I say, raising my glass. “A toast. To new opportunities.”
“To new opportunities,” the echo goes around the table. I smile as I take a drink, seeing that everyone is settled with their drinks and their starters.
I pick up my knife and fork and begin to eat. In spite of myself, I can’t help but glance across the room.
The waiter was more than bemused when I showed up with Candace, only to tell him that she needed her own table. I had to pull in a serious favor to get one for her at such short notice – and she’s not crammed into some shady corner, either. She’s right by the door, which means I was right with my choice of dress. The waiter knows just as I do that sitting a gorgeous woman in the window might drag in some curious diners, only for them to be told there are no tables available. That’s all part of the game. It drives up the appeal of the place, makes them book out even further in advance.
It also means I can see her from where I sit at my business dinner, and there’s nothing in the room more appealing to look at. Certainly not the businessmen sitting around on either side of me or opposite, who are all in at least their fifties and either greying, fat, or balding.
“When do you think we’ll be able to get the paperwork underway?” one of them asks me, forking a bit of lettuce into his mouth.
“Oh, my lawyer is drawing everything up for us as we speak,” I say, my eyes not straying from Candace. She’s just being served with her own starter, a small plate topped with a dainty display of food. She looks up at the waiter and smiles, and I don’t miss the fact that he smiles back.
Part of me feels almost proud. The fact that she can charm anyone so easily. I’m already thinking of her as my woman, and what my woman does also reflects well on me.
The other part of me has my hands tightening on my cutlery, wanting to clench into fists. That young waiter better not get any ideas about what he might get up to with my woman.
“I can’t thank you enough for bringing us this deal,” one of the others, a senior partner in his firm, says. “This is a great opportunity for both of our companies. I’m sure it’s the start of a wonderful journey together.”
“I completely agree,” I say, looking away from Candace just for a moment to smile and nod at him. I take another bite of my food, trying to concentrate. The others are starting to talk amongst themselves a little more, and I need to keep up. This is part of my job. Entertaining, being the life of the party. Making them feel special because they’re getting the special treatment from our firm.
But I can’t. I can’t stop looking at her. Even sitting on her own, she lights up the room.
That doesn’t mean that I miss how she seems to be almost trying to shrink in on herself. Like she doesn’t want anyone to notice her. And why would she? She’s probably embarrassed at the fact that she’s sitting there all alone. It’s not fair for me to leave her there like that.
I should do something, but I can’t. I have to stay. It’s my job.
Even though there’s nothing in the world I want to do more than go over and sit with her.
“Fogarty, are you with us?” the senior partner asks, making me look up and meet his gaze. “You seem a little out of it.”
I hesitate. This is my chance. If I can play this right…
“Gentlemen,” I say, lowering my voice and leaning over the table conspiratorially. “To tell you the truth, I haven’t been able to take my eyes off that woman over there.”
It’s safe for me to say it like this, to pretend I don’t know who she is because we were the first to arrive. None of them know that we know each other. And none of them need to know if I can do this right.
