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“Pretty,” Jack murmured as she scraped her tongue free of the molten dessert.
“Thut up,” she said.
She gulped some ice water, some dribbling down her chin in her haste. Lovely. No napkin, where the hell was the napkin? She looked like a drooling freak. Fine. She used the tablecloth to dab her chin. And neck. And bosom, for the love of St. Patrick.
Lucas was watching the show, his eyes holding an irresistible hint of smile.
“Okay, fine. Lucas? Is there something I can help you with?”
“No,” he said. “Just getting something to eat.”
“Good. Because Jack and I want to get back to our romantic dinner, right Pooh Bear?”
Jack looked confused. “Are you talking to me?”
“You’re Faith’s brother, right?” Lucas asked.
“Afraid so. And Prudence’s, and Honor’s. Have we met?”
“I used to date him,” Colleen said. She took another forkful of cake, careful to blow on this one.
“Right,” Jack said. “You were talking about him in the bar the other—”
“No, I wasn’t,” she said. “Shut up, Jack.”
Jack sighed. “Babe? Sweetie-pie? Cuddlebuns? Can I leave now?”
Okay, so this wasn’t working. Time to surrender. “Just get out of here, Jack, and thanks for nothing.”
Her un-husband grinned, shook Lucas’s hand far too cheerfully and stopped to chat with Jess. “You better pay for dinner!” Colleen added.
He did. He might not want to marry her and sire three gorgeous children (possibly four, if one pregnancy was a set of twins, as Colleen would prefer), but he did pick up the tab.
“Can I join you?” Lucas asked.
“Sure,” she muttered. He slid into Jack’s vacated chair, and the air seemed to shimmer with the sheer force of...ofthem.
“I thought we should talk.”
“Are you stalking me?”
He gave her a slight smile. “Would you like me to?”
Yes, please.“Such an ego. Good to see that hasn’t changed.”
“There are two restaurants in this town, Colleen. You own one. I showed up here as a courtesy to you. Not to stalk you.”
“You can come to O’Rourke’s. I have no problem with that. I’m totally over you.”
Another almost-smile. The special places began to purr.
Jessica came over and cleared the table, her movements precise and efficient. Lucas ordered a glass of 2010 Fisher Cabernet Sauvignon that Robert Parker had anointed with a 96. It went well with Lucas’s whole fallen angel thing. He might as well have been drinking a soul.
Colleen looked around the restaurant, automatically smiling at the familiar faces scattered among the tourists. Hugo’s was the fancier restaurant in Manningsport, white tablecloths and flowers and a view of the lake. The sun was setting, the sky purple and slate, the lake darkening. A few boats glided toward the marina, white sails sharp in the dimming light. Hugo’s was busy tonight, and if Hugo’s was busy, it meant O’Rourke’s would be mobbed. She should go help out after this, even if it was her night off.
She didn’t move. Her skin felt too tight. “So you’re here,” she said, “and I’m here, and obviously we’ll run into each other now and again.”
“Yes.”
