She strokes her thumb across my jaw, making me shudder with desire and longing for her. She inches her face closer to mine and whispers, “I don’t want to live in a world where you’re out of my system. What are we going to do about that?”
“I don’t have a clue. But let’s try to figure it out soon, yeah?”
She smiles and whispers “Yes” against my lips. A yes that thrums through my whole body and beats in my heart.
Once inside, I shake off all these new sensations, because it’s time to focus on business and being here for the man of the hour. Enzo moved to the States mere months ago and hardly knows anyone, so my job is to be his wingman in a world where his woman knows everyone.
As Valerie works the room, Enzo leans effortlessly against the bar, surveying the glittering crowd in the chandelier-encrusted ballroom. “Ah, when I was growing up, a poor boy in Madrid, I never imagined this might be my life.”
I raise a glass. “It’s a good life.”
“I have a solid job, the love of a fantastic woman, and I’m starting to make new friends in a new town.”
“I’d say your job is more than solid, mate. It’s pretty damn secure.”
He flashes that grin, and somewhere, someone with a camera snaps it. “But is it though? Is any job truly secure? Is yours secure?”
“You got me there. My work is anything but secure,” I answer.
He raises his champagne glass. “To insecurity in work.”
I clink my glass to his, since nothing feels truer than the utter lack of reliability I’m experiencing on the business front. His comment is a reminder that I haven’t heard a word from Ryder, and he usually books me by the end of one week for the next one. My shoulders tighten in worry. Even if I didn’t win the full-time gig, I hope I’m not losing the part-time one on his show.
But tonight I’m here for Enzo, not me.
Enzo glances toward Truly, who’s chatting with Troy and Sully. “But perhaps there is no insecurity in love?”
I shoot him a look. “What do you mean?”
“You’re funny. Maybe you think it’s not obvious.”
“What’s not obvious?”
“She’s more than your date.”
I could deny it. I could lie. But I don’t want to pretend with this. “Let’s hope so.”
Valerie marches over, raises a glass of champagne, and offers a toast to us. “To my kind and thoughtful husband-to-be and his very charming best man. Now, what is it that you men were discussing? Sports cars, stealth bombers, aftershave, and other exceedingly masculine things?”
Enzo smiles. “I was simply telling him that I think he needs to sort out his feelings for a certain lady.”
“You’re kind to worry about my romantic affairs, but I swear I’m fine. Let’s focus on this fantastic union,” I say deflecting, deflecting, and then deflecting some more.
Valerie swings her gaze around to Truly then back to me. “Do you know what I’ve learned about men?”
“What have you learned, my love?” Enzo asks.
She points to his eyes, then to mine. “I’ve learned that it’s all in the eyes. That’s how you read them. That’s how you can tell. When I work on deals, I always look a person in the eyes. They never lie. Yours never did,” she says to Enzo. Then to me, “And when I look at yours, and I see the way you gaze at that woman, all your truths are self-evident. Inescapable.”
“Maybe they are,” I muse.
Enzo nudges her. “Just as we predicted.”
“We did,” she says. “We can always tell when love is blooming.”
“Good skill,” I remark, because what else is there to say? She’s right. For me, at least.
Enzo catches someone’s eye and points to a dapper man in a suit. “I must go talk to Carlos about a painting.”
“Oh yes, the one that reminds us of an Edward Hopper. Get it for us.”
He makes a growling sound at her, as if this art acquisition is part of their foreplay. “Consider it done.”
He heads off, and Valerie cocks her head, her brown eyes locked with mine. “Now, tell me stuff. I want to know more about you. I’m so fascinated by your job. I absolutely love hearing about all sorts of new professions.”
But now isn’t the time to spill the details that clients don’t need to know. “There’s not really much to tell. It’s a simple job,” I say, lying through my teeth, because it’s completely complicated. “You find me, you hire me, I do a job.” I subscribe to the less-is-more approach.
“Yes, I know that. I hired you. Because I wanted more groomsmen. Because Enzo doesn’t know many people here in New York yet. But I’m not interested in my story. I’m interested in yours. Tell me how you came to be in this field, because I doubt you were trying to imitate Kevin Hart from that film.”
I push out a laugh. “You’re correct. I started before that movie came out. I can write the hell out of a best man’s speech. That’s how I got started.”
But that’s not enough for Valerie. She asks where I’m from, and since that’s innocuous enough, I tell her just outside of London. We chat about the neighborhoods in that city, also a safe topic.
“London is one of my favorite cities. I find it so much more civilized to attend the theater in London.”
“I can’t say I disagree. The relative lack of ticket scalpers does help the civility there.”
