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He darted out the door, and she plopped into her chair so her shaky knees wouldn’t give out. Reaching forward to pick up her coffee, her hand shook, but not as much as it had before. She gulped down some of the delicious liquid, the temperature a bit easier to handle now.
She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing. It was probably nothing.
Hearing David’s voice as he greeted one of her co-workers, she opened her eyes and took in his very presence when he entered her office. The man was simply amazing. The silver threads in his hair gleamed in the light, but his tanned face and his deep blue eyes mesmerized her. He came to her and kneeled by her chair.
“There was no one out there. No black SUV. Do you know exactly where you were?”
Her shoulders sank. “I’d just walked past The Sandwich Shoppe. The bread smelled fantastic as I went by, then I saw him.”
“Okay, honey. I’m not sure what he was doing or why, but we’ll be on the lookout, okay?”
She nodded. “You don’t have to placate me, David. I know what I saw, but he also knew I saw him, so he wouldn’t stick around. It’s fine; I’ll deal.”
“Kiera, sweetheart, I’m not placating you. I just don’t know what I can do at this point. Could be he simply thought you were stunning.” He smiled genuinely, his perfectly straight teeth framed by his full lips simply captivating.
“Okay. I didn’t mean to be touchy.” She stood and waited for her leg to adjust. “Did you need something from me?”
His brows pinched briefly then smoothed. “No. I just wanted to let you know that I have to be out of the office this morning. A couple of estimates and then lunch with Rita. “
Her hand went to her stomach to quell the nausea. “Okay. I hope it all goes well.”
He stepped forward and touched his lips to her forehead. “Me too. It’s best if I sit across from her and tell her you’re with me and will be at the wedding and that I expect her to behave. I’ve never treated Harold with anything short of respect. She’ll get the message.”
“Okay.” She looked up into his handsome face and placed her hands on his chest, smoothing the material of his deep blue shirt. He looked damned sexy in that shirt. She wondered if that was done on purpose to win Rita over using appeal? She didn’t want to think of any other woman thinking he was handsome. Especially the woman who bore him children. Selfish, but true.
“Okay, see you tonight for dinner at your place. I’ll bring dessert.” He lightly kissed her lips, turned, and walked out the door.
32
Stiffly sitting in the back of the brightly-lit restaurant, his words tumbled over in his mind. He didn’t want this lunch to be anything but a friendly catching up of wedding plans for Leesa, and that included his bringing Kiera.
His phone vibrated in his breast pocket of the shirt he wore. Pulling it out, he glanced at the screen to see a text from Matt.Good luck, she’s in a mood. M
Fucking great. Tucking his phone back into his shirt, he saw her walking into the restaurant. He’d purposely picked this restaurant, Seasons Greetings, one of her favorite restaurants for this lunch.
She wore black dress pants and a white, loose-fitting blouse. Long, black pearls hung loosely around her neck and matched her earrings. Her blonde hair was pulled severely back into a bun, which he’d mused lately must be her attempt at pulling her face a bit tighter. Sounded damned uncomfortable to him.
“David.”
Her clipped tone warned him that Matt was indeed correct, and she was in a mood. He stood and nodded. “Rita. You’re looking good.”
She sat, rolled her eyes and remarked, “You don’t need to flatter me, David.”
Heaving out a long breath, he resumed his seat and waved for the waitress to take their order.
“I have a feeling this lunch was called for an unpleasant reason. You never call to have lunch anymore. The kids are grown, so the only thing we have to discuss is the wedding, and that could have been done over the telephone. So, let’s get this over with.”
He watched her take the white cloth napkin and lay it across her lap. Where was that waitress?
“Well let me begin by asking you a question. When you told me about Harold, what did you expect my reaction to be?”
“I hoped you’d accept it as it were. I thought you’d be pissed and you were. I expected some respect for him as a person.”
“And?”
“And what? Do you want me to say I got what I hoped for?”
Her blue eyes damned near shot death rays from them. Her spine was stiff and his gut twisted.
