Читать книгу And Then He Kissed Me - Teresa Southwick, Teresa Southwick - Страница 11

Chapter Three

“Oh, Nick—” Words failed Abby.

They had just been seated at a window table in an exclusive restaurant high above the San Fernando Valley, and she looked down at the lights.

“You like it?” he asked.

She smiled at him. “I’d sure hate to be responsible for the electric bill. But yes. It’s wonderful.” She gazed at the sight again. “It takes my breath away.”

“Yeah,” he said.

She darted a glance at him and realized he wasn’t looking outside. He was staring at her. Her breath caught for the second time in thirty seconds, and it had nothing to do with the view and everything to do with the intensity in his gaze. He’d never looked at her like that before.

“Is something the matter?” she asked. “Lipstick on my teeth? Mascara under my eyes? Is the dress wrong?”

He shook his head. “You look just fine,” he answered.

“Then why are you staring at me?”

“It’s just—” He shrugged, a gesture that told her he didn’t have the words. Maneuvering Marchetti always had the words, so this was a noteworthy occasion. Noteworthy good or bad, she wasn’t sure.

“Just what?” she prompted. A personal compliment from her boss bent her rule. But heck, just for the evening she could relax. Couldn’t she?

“You don’t look like this at work,” he finished lamely.

“Does that mean the outfit is okay?” It was the only decent dressy thing she owned. She’d worn the long-sleeved, short-skirted, black, lace-covered sheath to the company Christmas party the year before. Obviously he didn’t remember. She ignored the prick of disappointment. It was better to overlook what you didn’t understand, and couldn’t do anything about even if you did.

Just then the waiter appeared. “Can I get you something from the bar?”

Nick ordered a Scotch. Abby asked for a glass of white wine.

The waiter cleared his throat, looking embarrassed. “Miss, may I see some identification, please?”

Stunned, Abby reached for her small clutch purse, grateful that she’d thought to bring her driver’s license. She handed it over for his examination. Nodding he said, “I’ll bring your drinks right away.”

Abby glanced at Nick who had a cat-who-ate-the-canary expression on his face. “Okay,” she said. “I get it. That’s what you whispered to the maître d’ when we walked in.”

“I haven’t a clue what you’re talking about.”

“Come clean, Nick. You put him up to asking me for ID.”

“If this was really your twenty-first birthday, they would have done it on their own. You don’t look much older than Sarah.”

She wasn’t sure she liked that. “Thanks, I think,” she said ruefully. But his attention to the small detail warmed her heart.

The waiter returned and placed their drinks in front of them, then slipped away while they leisurely looked at the menu. Nick sipped his Scotch, then rested his forearms on the small circular table. “Why don’t you date, Ab?”

Where had that question come from and did she really want to answer it? she wondered.

“How do you know I don’t?” she asked evasively.

“Sarah gives me a regular update on the trials and tribulations of the Ridgeway sisters. She says you might as well be a nun.”

“She’s so boy-crazy.” Abby laughed, shaking her head. “In her opinion, anything less than total preoccupation with the opposite sex means you must be convent bait. But I suppose I was the same way at her age.”

“Sarah says you’re making her wait to go out alone with a guy until she’s sixteen,” he said. “When did you start dating?”

“Sixteen. And then I couldn’t go out alone. It had to be group activities.” She toyed with the stem of her wineglass, turning it so that the pale liquid caught the candlelight. “At the time, I thought my parents were from the Dark Ages. Now I see their wisdom. But times have changed. Kids grow up much faster today. I worry so about Sarah, and I don’t know if she’ll listen to me. I wish my mom and dad were here.”

“Two parents and a united front are definitely the way to go, especially when you’re raising a teenager.”

“Even when the two parents aren’t exactly united,” she said. If the accident hadn’t taken their lives, her parents might have stayed together. If they’d gotten the chance, it was possible they could have worked out their problems. Now Abby would never know. Mostly she’d learned to deal with the guilt of her part in the accident. But every once in a while it snuck up on her.

“What does that mean?” he asked, a puzzled frown creasing his forehead.

She shrugged. “Nothing. I love my sister. I want her to have all the advantages I didn’t. I’ll do my best to take care of her all by myself.”

“Like I said before—you’ve got me, pal. Dial M for Marchetti and I’m there.” He grinned. “I’ll help you keep Sarah in line. But you changed the subject. Why don’t you date?”

“No time.” She fiddled with the small cocktail napkin beneath her glass. “I had too much to do after Mom and Dad died.”

“You never went out?” The shock on his face was almost comical. “But you were only eighteen.”

“I tried a couple of times. But it didn’t work. Too complicated.” She looked out the window, searching for a way to change the subject. “I’d like to discuss this plan I have for the restaurant—”

“Hold it.” He held up one finger for silence. “Didn’t I explain tonight’s rules?” When she shook her head, he continued. “Then let me do it now. We are friends out for the evening to have fun. There will be no discussion of work. Period.” He sipped his drink. “Now, tell me how dating was complicated.”

She thought back, dredging up the memories. The problem with dredging was that you brought up a lot of stuff better left stuck in the muck. Like the pain. But she knew there was no point in putting Nick off. When he wanted something, he was like a dog who wouldn’t let go of his favorite bone.

She’d best get it over with. “First of all, I needed a free period of time that coincided with my date’s.”

“What else?”

“I had to find someone to watch Sarah and be able to afford to pay them.”

“Okay.” There was no emotion in his voice, but he was frowning thoughtfully as if this was a newsflash to him. “I have a feeling there’s more.”

“I was working, going to school and taking care of my sister. She demanded a lot of time back then. It was pretty traumatic, losing both parents at once.”

“I can only imagine.” He reached across the table and rested his hand over hers. Wrapping his strong fingers around her own, he brushed a delicate caress across her palm, then squeezed reassuringly.

She wanted to lose herself in the warmth of that tingle-evoking touch, but warned herself not to go there. He could tell himself from now till next Tuesday that they were buddies out on the town. But she couldn’t—wouldn’t—forget that he was head honcho of the corporation she worked for. And it wasn’t her job she worried about. Nick wouldn’t fire her unless she turned into a psycho-stalking embezzler, who couldn’t assistant-manage her way out of a paper bag. She worried that their relationship would change. Until she could spare the time, there was no point in investing energy in anything that even remotely smacked of fascination, flirtation or infatuation.

In spite of her fears, she couldn’t bring herself to move her hand away. This was one isolated night that teetered on the edge of magical. It was unlikely that she would ever do this again. What could it hurt to let him hold her hand?

“Sarah got hysterical if she lost sight of me,” she continued, relaxing a bit. “There just never seemed a perfect time to go out. The few guys who had the courage to ask me eventually got tired of waiting for me to line my ducks up in a perfect row long enough for a fast-food dinner and a movie.” She smiled brightly, hoping it camouflaged the pain. “Finally, they just gave up on me.”

Time had passed, but apparently not enough. The memory still hurt. The shock of losing her parents. The loneliness when her friends stopped calling because she never had time for them. Working at the restaurant. Waiting tables for dating couples, young people in love. Knowing it couldn’t happen for her.

Abby had made up her mind to put romance on a back burner until Sarah was in college. That hadn’t happened yet.

Her tingles grew tingles when Nick gently squeezed her fingers again. “The best things in life are worth waiting for, Ab. Those guys were young and stupid.”

Either his touch, or her few sips of wine had made her far too warm. She eased her fingers out of his hold and folded her hands, resting them on the table. “Were you ever young and stupid, Nick?”

His dark, unreadable expression clicked on. “Isn’t everyone?” he asked.

Answering a question with a question always piqued her curiosity. “I don’t believe you ever made a mistake in your life.”