Catching Lucas Riley (5 page)

“Advertising,” Sealey said simply.

“Oh, well that explains it,” Alex muttered.

Sealey rolled his eyes. “Trust me, okay? If a guy figures you out too
easily, he completely loses interest. It’s unfortunate, but it’s true. It’s all about the chase.”

“Well, technically, I’m the one doing the chasing,” Alex said mournfully.

“But he doesn’t have to know that,” Sealey pointed out. “It’s imperative that he believes he’s chasing you.”

“I know, I know,” Alex muttered.

Sealey glared at her. “You know, I’m not really liking your attitude, Foamer,” he said, irritated. “After all I’ve done for you thus far, the least you could do is be pleasant. After all, it’s not like
I’ve
gotten anything out of this deal.”

Alex sighed. He was right. He really had been helpful, and she’d been nothing but cynical and snotty throughout the entire process. “Sorry,” she said, sitting up straighter in her chair and molding her face into a more pleasant expression. “How’s this?”

“Better,” he conceded. “Now, we need to stage some drive-bys within the next couple of weeks. Enough that Lucas is reminded of your existence, but not so many that he suspects you’re stalking him.”

Alex nodded in agreement. Sounded like a reasonable plan to her. “He comes to the gym where my swim team works out every day. Walks right by the pool area.” She tried to keep her voice from sounding too dreamy as she said it.

“That will work for a once-a-week contact point,” Sealey agreed, nodding as he shuffled through the file folders, apparently looking for something. “I have his client schedule here somewhere.”

“His what schedule?” Alex asked, eyebrow raised.

“He works for my company, remember?” Sealey prompted, glancing at her.

“Your company?” she asked, her eyebrows rising even further.

“Yes, Foamer,
my company
,” Sealey responded, his voice annoyed. “Trident Advertising.”

“Wait a second, you
own
that company?” Alex clarified, attempting to keep her voice somewhere below a screech.

“Don’t sound so surprised,” Sealey said, finally appearing to have found what he was looking for. He pulled the piece of paper toward him and studied it thoughtfully, his hand on his chin. “It looks like he
has meetings all over the valley in the next couple of weeks. We should easily be able to set up a couple random run-ins without it looking too suspicious.”

Alex was still staring at him. “How old are you?” she questioned.

Sealey glanced up from the paper, his irritation evident. “How old am—what does that matter?”

“You seem awfully young to have your own company,” she said, trying to mask how impressed she was.

“It’s a small market,” he said dismissively. “This is Logan, Utah, Foamer, in case you hadn’t noticed. Not exactly a thriving metropolis.”

Alex shrugged, but inside she marveled at this new tidbit she had discovered. She’d have to mentally nibble on it later.

An hour later, Alex had a list of dates, times, and locations where she was expected to be. The plan was unbelievably detailed, even to the point of Sealey telling her which door to enter and where to stand or pace, and whether to look concerned, disinterested, or ecstatic. Alex wouldn’t have been surprised if he had insisted on seeing her closet so he could tell her what to wear.

“And what do I do when he walks up to me and asks why I’m so panicky?” Alex asked, raising her eyebrows.

“That’s the part where you lie through your teeth about the great traumatic event you’re suffering through,” Sealey responded, shoving folders back into his shoulder bag. “Besides, you’re giving Lucas more credit than he deserves for his level of concern. Most likely, he’ll see you, remember who you are, but not even bother to approach you. He’s a guy, remember?”

Alex couldn’t imagine Lucas seeing a damsel in distress and not running to her aid. He was a knight in shining armor, after all.

“And that’s good,” Sealey continued, not noticing Alex’s distracted expression as she dreamed of Lucas on a white horse, his armor gleaming in the sun. “We don’t want him to approach you and talk to you every time he sees you. He’d get sick of you before he ever went out with you.”

“This whole thing seems awfully risky,” Meredith commented from the living room couch, where she sat with an electrical engineering textbook open on her lap. “What if you’re wrong and he does approach her every time?”

“He
won’t,” Sealey assured them. “First of all, he’ll be with other people most of the time, many of them clients, and he wouldn’t dream of making such a horrible impression. Second, you’re overestimating Foamer’s powers of attraction.”

Alex opened her mouth to protest, but Sealey held up a hand. It felt like he did that a lot—the sight was overwhelmingly familiar. Maybe she did open her mouth more often than necessary.

“I don’t want to hear it,” Sealey said, his hand still in the air. “It’s not like you’re a hag, Foamer, but the sounds that issue from your mouth are not exactly a siren call, you know.”

Again with the mention of her mouth. She’d never been so self-conscious about her candor.

“All right, we good?” Sealey asked, zipping up his bag. “Do you feel confident? Or at least non-queasy?”

“Yeah . . . ,” Alex responded, her tone much less certain than she proclaimed.

“Let me just offer you one more piece of advice,” Sealey said, looking at her seriously. “And that advice is, don’t overdo it. I’m probably doing myself a disservice by saying this, but you’re a pretty remarkable physical specimen all by yourself, Foamer. The more effort you put into enhancing that, the more high maintenance you’re going to look. Take it from someone who knows, Luke is not interested in high-maintenance.”

Alex was torn between flattery and confusion. “Are you saying I shouldn’t wear makeup or anything?”

Sealey sighed. “Has anyone ever explained to you the concept of subtlety?” He rubbed a hand over his face. “I suggest avoiding one thing, and you immediately jump to the opposite extreme. I said
don’t overdo it
. You’re naturally non-gag-worthy enough that you could probably get away with no makeup, so maybe employ that strategy at the pool while you’re coaching your team. Lucas wouldn’t be surprised at all to see you go
au naturale
at the gym. But, if you’re running into him at a nicer restaurant, he would probably expect to see the girl of his dreams make a bit more of an effort. Make sense?”

“Yes,” Alex said firmly. She was embarrassed that a guy was lecturing her on when and where and how to utilize her Maybelline products. However, she didn’t miss Sealey’s continued reference to her looks. She
was surprised that he was even capable of noticing that a girl was pretty. He seemed like too much of a shark to perceive things like that.

“Okay, then,” Sealey said, slinging his bag onto his shoulder. “Well, good luck. I’ll connect with you before your first drive-by, but if I hear anything of interest in the meantime, I’ll pass it on.”

“Cool,” Meredith commented again from the living room. “It’s like having your own personal spy camping out in Lucas’s apartment, Alex.”

Sealey rolled his eyes as he headed for the door. “Let’s not get carried away,” he muttered, reaching for the doorknob.

Alex followed him out, needing to ask him one more question, but not wanting Meredith to overhear.

“Hey,” she said, catching him by the arm before he headed for his car. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” he said noncommittally, pushing a hand through his blond hair.

“Why are you doing this?” she asked. She purposely kept her voice soft and nonaggressive, knowing he wouldn’t respond well to her usual form of address. “Why are you willing to expend so much time and effort to help me? I’ve never really gotten the feeling that you liked me all that much, so I’m confused as to why you would do this for me, without making any kind of demand.”

“I thought I told you that I had my reasons,” Sealey said, but his voice wasn’t harsh or irritated. He sounded more uncertain than anything.

“You did, but I thought that just meant you were going to wait to go in for the kill,” she responded. “Like you wanted me to get in so deep I couldn’t get out before you revealed what you wanted from me.”

Sealey whistled. “You really don’t have a very high opinion of me, do you, Foamer?” he said, one eyebrow cocked.

“I just hear a lot of frankly brutal things about you,” Alex responded. “It seems like you typically play hardball. You haven’t been fully conforming to that stereotype thus far, and it’s making me nervous.”

Sealey sighed. “Well, we wouldn’t want that,” he said, with an edge of sarcasm. “Have a seat.” He gestured to the steps in front of the apartment building.

Surprised at his capitulation, Alex sat down on the cement steps, leaning back on her hands. She tried to keep her anticipation hidden,
afraid that if he noticed it, he’d take back his willingness to be so forthcoming. She let her head fall back, long auburn hair sliding from her shoulders down to tickle her arms. The night air was cool and pleasant, smelling like summer nights always do.

“You’re probably not aware,” Sealey began as he sat next to her, “that Luke is currently writing a missionary.”

Alex sat up straight, feeling suddenly winded. No, she had not known that. She’d been encouraged by the fact that Lucas so rarely distinguished a particular girl above the rest, but now that she knew why, she felt the encouragement evaporate. “He is?” she almost wailed. “Who is she?”

“Her name is Olivia,” Sealey responded. “They’ve been friends since they were kids.”

“Is it serious?” Alex asked, really afraid to hear the answer.

“He’s more serious about her than I’ve ever seen him about anyone else,” Sealey replied. “But that’s not to say his feelings can’t change.”

“So . . . why do you seem to want them to?” Alex pressed, noticing the furrow between Sealey’s eyebrows.

“I don’t . . . necessarily,” Sealey hedged. He glanced at her face and sighed. “Look, Olivia is . . . well, she’s beautiful. And I mean really beautiful. And she’s smart and funny and . . . well . . .”

Alex squinted at Sealey, trying to figure out if he was purposely torturing her or something. But then suddenly everything slid into place in her head. “Oh my gosh!” she cried. “You want her! You’re trying to distract Lucas from Olivia so that when she comes home, he’ll no longer be interested and you can be there to pick up the pieces!”

Sealey winced. “Well, that makes it sound so much worse than it really is.”

“No, I’m pretty sure it’s every bit as bad as it sounds,” Alex emphasized. “You’re seriously trying to steal your best friend’s girl?”

Sealey looked at her. “Yes,” he said straightforwardly.

“Wow . . . ,” Alex muttered. “You know what I said earlier? I take it back. You are every bit as hardball as I’ve heard.”

Sealey looked at her steadily, his face stony. “I’ll see you later, Foamer.” Without another word, he got to his feet and walked away.

A
LEX SMILED AS
she
walked out of the hospital room of her last new mom for the day. While she considered herself more of a “grown-up person” than a “kid person,” she loved being surrounded by the warm fluffiness that was the hospital maternity ward. You know, as long as all the new babies weren’t screaming at once.

Alex, as one of the on-call dietitians for the maternity ward, was happy to consult with new moms on the best diet for themselves and for their babies once they left the hospital, but mostly, she acted as a certified lactation educator. She always found it somewhat ironic that she was expected to be an expert in something she had never actually experienced for herself, but the moms she consulted with didn’t seem to mind. In fact, they were usually relieved and grateful every time she walked into their rooms, especially the first-time moms. Alex also kept office hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays so that these new moms could come in for help and advice once they’d returned home with their soft, cooing (or sometimes shrieking) new additions.

As Alex headed for her office to pick up her purse, she felt the pocket of her scrubs vibrate for what seemed like the twelfth time that day. She typically didn’t carry her phone around with her on her rounds, but Sealey had forbidden her to so much as put it down. This afternoon was to be her first “drive by” with Lucas, and he wanted to be able to check in with her regularly as nuggets of wisdom and direction occurred to him. Sure enough, as Alex pulled the quivering device from her pocket,
she saw that she’d received four text messages in the past twenty minutes. She was sure all of them were from Sealey.

“Man alive . . . ,” she muttered as she swiped at the text message icon on the screen. Rolling her eyes, she began to read.

Change of plans. Luke just called, and the location is changing from Smith’s Food and Drug to Lee’s Marketplace. He’s picky about his produce. For that reason, your rendezvous point is the strawberries—those are his favorite.

Alex shook her head in disbelief. What was she supposed to do, just stand there until he showed up? Or was she going to be bobbing in and out of aisles attempting to look busy until she caught sight of him, and then make a beeline for the fruit? She ground her teeth as she read the next message.