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At the announcement, Faith's eyes connected with mine from across the room. The line formed between her brows as she stared at me, sizing me up. Then her brother nudged her and recaptured her attention.
The brother and sister duo bantered back and forth over the salmon, potatoes, and green beans.
“You need to meet up with me in Florence,” Faith volleyed at her brother. “Seriously, I plan to visit my host family again and they’d love to meet you and then we can go out dancing.”
Jerome bellowed, “Dominic dancing? Good luck with that.”
Faith pouted. “Come on, it will be fun. You work too much.”
“Yeah, Dominic. Go visit your sister while she’s in Italy.”
Dominic wiped his mouth with a napkin. “If there’s time.”
Faith rolled her eyes before they landed on me. “And what about you?”
I startled, not ready to have the full effect of her attention on me.
But there she was with her broad smile, hair tucked behind her ears, the stain of wine on her lips, drawing my attention.
“What about me?” I parroted back to her.
Ding.
The elevator chimed, and all our heads swiveled to see another visitor arrive.
“Are we expecting someone else?” Jerome asked as a man with cropped blonde hair arrived. He was shorter than me, leaner too, with a look that suggested he’d come from wealth. You know the kind, the people who look like they grew up on a golf course. He wore a polo shirt and tan slacks and looked like a douchebag.
The man spoke loudly into his phone before noticing the attention was all on him. “I’ll call you back.” He slid the phone into his pocket and found Faith. “Hey, babe.”
I swore I saw her wince as she got up and greeted the man with a kiss.
Blood rushed to my ears as I witnessed the simple gesture. Everything in my body wanted to rip her away from him and tug her into my lap. An illogical reaction considering we’d just met.
Dominic stood, greeting the known intruder with a clasp of his hands. “Hello, Mike. Glad you could make it.”
I observed my friend. He was polite to Mike, but in that reserved sort of way that made the skin tighten around his eyes. That made him a little more formal, more proper. Besides that, Dominic pumped this man’s hand a little too aggressively.
At least he wasn’t fooled by this guy.
I couldn’t pin down exactly what I didn’t like about him, but something about his demeanor set off every internal alarm system in my body.
“I’ll get you a chair,” Faith said, pulling one over from off to the side. She struggled to move the heavy piece of furniture that was made from real wood.
Mike waved her off. “I’ll just take yours.”
I shot out of my chair and helped Faith with the one in her arms. I gestured for Jerome to move over, so that I could set the chair next to Faith’s old one, unhappy that Mike just assumed he could have hers. He was the one who’d just arrived and yet he had sat down comfortably while Faith struggled.
It made me want to flick the obnoxious smirk on his face.
“So what are we drinking tonight, boys?” Mike asked, rubbing his hands together. “Babe, get me a drink.”
I ground my teeth. “The bar is right over there. Why don’t you get it yourself?”
Mike glanced at me for the first time since he’d entered the room. “And who the fuck are you?”
“Mike—” Faith scolded.
Dominic’s eye twitched. “This is Sebastian. He’s a friend, and he’s welcome here. He’s also right. The bar is right over there. The bartender is happy to get you whatever you want.”
