A Convenient Arrangement (9 page)

The answer hit him, sharp and fast like a jab to the gut, as soon as her eyes met his and he saw the longing she tried so hard to mask with another stiff smile. Gwen’s decision wasn’t just about discretion, or about his family, or about being a busy executive. Her reasons were much simpler. How could he have failed to see the truth? He’d been right all along. He’d been right the morning after. Gwen couldn’t have sex without emotion. A convenient arrangement wasn’t just inconvenient for her right now—a convenient arrangement was an impossibility for Gwen Fleming.

Leo took a step back. Away from the heat, away from the attraction…away from Gwen. His breath hitched in his lungs. With those long legs and effervescent smile, Gwen was the type of woman any man would be lucky to have in his life, even with the complications of a relationship.

A
relationship
?

When was the last time he’d considered having a real relationship with a woman?

“Aubrey will love this space.” Gwen looked away from him and turned back toward the room. “So will Nina. You want to show me the kitchen?” Her eyes sparkled and her lips relaxed into a true smile. A smile that seemed to let him off some hook she’d hung him on. A smile he most likely didn’t deserve. He hadn’t realized, even when he’d doubted her words, hadn’t realized for certain that the night between them did mean more to Gwen than a simple one-night stand.

Gwen deserved more. Deep breath. Did he want to give her more?

“I like it when you smile.”

Gwen’s eyes widened. This moment wasn’t just chemistry and heat. A need to reach out, to pull Gwen into his arms and gently kiss her, swelled in Leo’s chest.

“Gwen—” He stepped forward. “Gwen, you are—”

“Leo, I—”

“Gwen please, will you let me—I don’t want to have a convenient arrang—”

Her phone trilled the notification of an incoming FaceTime call and she looked away, the moment shattered by the electronic device.

Aubrey’s face popped onto the screen. “Soooo, how is it?”

“The place is amazing.” Gwen held out her phone and pressed the button to switch to the rear-facing camera so Aubrey could see the room for herself. “Won’t work for the launch party because of Hipster 1 and Hipster 2, but it would completely work for Nina and catering.”

“You’re right!” Aubrey chortled from the phone. “This is perfect, and the address is ideal. Leo”—Gwen pointed the phone at him so Aubrey could address him directly—“I can’t believe you guys have this place and we didn’t know.”

“It’s been empty for months.” He sighed and forced a smile onto his face. “You may do with it what you will. Want to see the kitchen and the offices?’

“Offices?” Gwen and Aubrey gasped in unison.

“Oh yes, please,” Gwen said.

“Perfect, perfect, perfect,” Aubrey crowed.

Leo led the way, pleased he could make his sister-in-law happy, but wishing he could find the way to make Gwen happy as well.

The next morning, Gwen’s sat with her iPad open on her kitchen table. She sipped her coffee, her hair up in a messy bun, clicking through different locations on her computer while Aubrey’s face beamed out from the iPad screen. She still needed a venue for Leo’s launch party. Though her face showed nothing but calm concentration, panic careened around her belly. She was running out of time.

“The invitations for the baby shower are finished and sent.”

“That’s part of my job,” Gwen chided, smiling.

“Check it off the list. Why messenger them over to you so you could drop them in the mail? It’s done.” Aubrey sipped her tea. “Oh! I showed Nina the video of the Upper East Side location.”

“And?”

“She flipped. Couldn’t believe the video of the kitchen. Was shocked, first, that we didn’t know, second that no one is using it, and third that the guys own it. Who knew? Those guys. I swear one of these days I’ll find out they own an island.”

“I think they do own an island,” Gwen said.

“What? How do they fail to tell me these things? I mean, that space is perfect for nearly any party we could want to have, right? It’s a blank canvas. You could put up moveable walls and decorate. Plus the kitchen? Gwen, really, that is a
perfect
space for your business.”

“Yes, of course, buuuuut…I mean, you do know I work out of my kitchen for a reason, right?”

“That space would be the ideal way to introduce Rockwater Farms and Nina to New York. We can do limited events, tastings, charity events, parties, maybe even weddings. See how all of this fits? Then, when it’s time look for the restaurant space Nina wants—”

“You never stop, do you? You’re on bed rest, about to have a baby, and you’re thinking about not one but
two
new businesses to start in the next year.”

“Well, I was thinking more like a couple months, but—”

“Aubrey, come on!” The doorbell rang. Gwen picked up her iPad and carried it with her to the door. “Could we just get through the baby shower and the launch party first?” Gwen smiled down at Aubrey’s image on the screen and opened the door. The sweet scent of flowers washed over her.

“Uh…”

A delivery guy popped his head from behind a giant bouquet of pink peonies and magnolias. “Gwen Fleming?”

“Uh-huh.”

“For you.”

“Okay, let me get…” Gwen clamped the iPad under one arm and scrambled into her purse, which hung beside the door. “Just a second, Aubrey.” She pulled out a five for the delivery guy.

“Thanks. Enjoy the flowers.”

Gwen took the huge arrangement, careful not to drop the iPad as she wrapped her free arm around the vase and braced the bottom with her other hand.

“Flowers? You got flowers?”

Shoot, she’d almost forgotten that Aubrey was still on the iPad now squished against the side of Gwen’s chest. She walked into the kitchen, a delicate sprig of asparagus fern tickling her nose. The gorgeous flowers smelled of spring and love. She set the bouquet on the kitchen table.

“Gwen, let me see!” Aubrey insisted.

Deep breath. Gwen turned the iPad toward the flowers.

“Oh, they’re beautiful. Who are they from?”

Gwen didn’t want to read the card now. What if they were from Leo? Her heart stuttered inside her chest… It couldn’t be, but who else would send her flowers?

“Not sure.” Gwen lifted both shoulders. “Probably a happy client. Or maybe even a floral designer who’s pitching me their services.”

“Read the card.” Aubrey tilted her head. “There is a card, isn’t there?”

“Yes, yes there is.” Gwen plucked the card from the bouquet. Then she paused. “Oh my gosh, the door again,” she fibbed. “Aubrey, let me call you back, okay? I need to—”

“Gwen, read the card, I want to know—”

But Gwen pressed the off button on her iPad. Yes, she felt bad about hanging up on Aubrey, but she also wanted to read this card alone. What if the flowers were from Leo? What if they weren’t? What if, what if, what if…

She opened the crisp white envelope and pulled out a bright white card with the initials “L. T.” embossed across the top. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

What reason could Leo have to send her flowers? Was he still trying to convince her she should agree to a convenient arrangement with him? She thought she’d put that idea to rest, but then last night at the Upper East Side space…before Aubrey called…the strangest moment had passed between them. He’d looked at her…something in Leo’s eyes, in his stance and even in his voice had seemed different, more serious, more sincere, but Aubrey had called and the moment had passed. They hadn’t discussed anything other than the space and the launch party after that, and then Leo had dropped her at home, as she’d stuck with the lie that she had a previous dinner engagement. Well, she did have a dinner engagement—just with Mr. Mouse and a Lean Cuisine. Ha!

Enough. She took another deep breath and opened her eyes. Her cat had jumped on the kitchen table and rubbed his whiskers against the tall glass vase. “Mr. Mouse, what is this man thinking?” she said, running her eyes over the words on the card.

Thank you for last night. May I take you to dinner?

Leo

Last night? There hadn’t
been
a last night…and why dinner? So he could spend a whole evening trying to convince her to sleep with him, be his ongoing booty call so that they could get this mutual attraction out of their systems?

No thank you. She could find less hurtful ways to spend her time. She wanted to be more to a man than a convenient arrangement. If that meant she wasn’t Leo’s type of woman, then fine, but she wasn’t going to waste her time or her energy or put her heart in a place to be broken.

The flowers were beautiful, though. She wished she could say yes to dinner…but she couldn’t. Her phone rang. Had to be Aubrey. What would she tell her best friend? Was it time to tell her the entire sordid story about Leo and New Year’s Eve? She blindly  swiped the answer bar, not able to take her eyes off of the perfect blooms.

“Did you get the flowers?”

Heat shot through her body. She closed her eyes. How did he do that? One simple question from Leo, and her entire body quivered with desire.

“I did. Thank you. They’re beautiful.”

“And you read the card?”

“Mmmhmm.” She still held the heavy square with his initials across the top between her fingertips. What could she say to Leo that was honest, but didn’t make everything uncomfortable and strange? Before she could overthink it, she blurted out the truth. “Listen, Leo, I…I can’t go to dinner with you because I’m not interested in a convenient arrangement. I…I just can’t do that with you.”

“I’m not either.”

Leo’s voice was deep and thick. Gwen blinked, certain she’d misheard what Leo said.

“Excuse me?”

“I’m not interested in that type of arrangement with you, but I am interested in taking you to dinner.”

Her stomach flipped. “To dinner as in a…” She couldn’t say the word, she hardly wanted to even think the word. My God, what kind of mess would they be stepping into if they actually went out together? “As in a
date
?”

“Yes, a date. The two of us. Dinner. Will you go?”

Her heart rattled her ribs, and fuzzy white noise filled her brain
…
Leo had asked her on a date. Was he breaking his rules or just bending them? What exactly did this invitation mean? The man she’d crushed hard on for the last six months was asking her to dinner. She wanted to scream “yes!” and do a victory dance around her apartment and yet…they faced the same challenges as when she’d told him she couldn’t be party to a “convenient arrangement.” If they went on a date and people found out—and they would find out, Leo got photographed like he was Prince Harry at a whorehouse—they’d still have to deal with all the questions from family and friends.

“I can actually hear your brain spinning.” The smile in Leo’s voice calmed her. “You’re working out every single worst-case scenario in your mind. I understand, I get it, but Gwen, this is dinner between two adults who like each other. I promise I can act like an adult. I know you may not believe me, but I can, and I’m pretty sure you can too.”

She smiled. Dinner with Leo Travati? Alone? On a date? This was a dream come true, how could she possibly say no? She couldn’t, could she? Her good sense demanded she say no, but the rest of her, every part of her, wanted to say yes.

“I’d love to.” Gwen’s heart jolted against her ribs. Such a bad girl walking on the wild side. “But can we try to keep this quiet? Just between us?”

“I won’t tell a soul,” Leo said. “Not sure about the millions who read
The Daily News
, but I promise not to breathe a word.”

“That’s fair.” Gwen smiled. “We can always say we’re working on the launch.”

“Miss Fleming, I never knew you to be a liar.”

She flushed. Was he alluding to their conversation on New Year’s Day? “Maybe occasionally,” she said, swallowing hard. “When necessary.”

“I see.” He paused. “I’m sorry for making that necessary.”

She pressed her lips together. He knew, Leo absolutely knew that she’d been faking being nonchalant and devil-may-care. Why deny it?

“Does Friday night work? Seven?” he asked.

“Perfect,” Gwen said.

“I’ll pick you up then.”

She pushed “off” on her phone and put one trembling hand to her forehead. The sweet scent of magnolias and peonies infused her apartment. What the heck? She had a date with Leo. A real date. Not a one-night stand, or a convenient arrangement, but a real date where he’d sent her flowers, called her up, and asked her out…my goodness, how was this even possible? She’d slept with him, told him to kiss off, and now he was asking her out? It all seemed backwards and upside down…and she wasn’t sure…did she have anything to wear?

Gwen glanced at her phone. She didn’t have the luxury of time to worry. She had a meeting with a potential client in an hour and she still needed to shower and dress. Her hand slid over Mr. Mouse’s soft arched back. The beauty of the flowers stunned her. How would she keep her mind on anything but her upcoming dinner date with Leo? Hmm, she had no choice. She’d just have to try.

*

The racquetball court stank of sweat and stale towels and absolutely nothing feminine. For that lack of the feminine, Leo was oddly thankful. Everything Travati was being taken over by a g*aggle of girls, Leo groused, but here he was getting ready for a date on Friday night that had him wound up like a Yankees fan in Boston.

“Where would you take Aubrey to dinner?” he asked Justin, deliberately not making eye contact. Just trying to pretend it was a theoretical question, no big deal.

“Right now?” His older brother bounced the ball on the court. “Anywhere with a burger and fries. She can’t get enough cheeseburgers, plus throw in a chocolate shake and we’ve got a date.”

Not what he was after. “No, no, no, I mean if you wanted to take her for a nice dinner, something special?”

Justin turned his head to look intently at Leo. “Special? You want to take a woman somewhere
special
?”