by Jaci Burton
"I guess we do."
They chatted for a while about their respective careers. He liked Skylar. She was interesting, certainly gorgeous, and she could carry on a conversation. Plus, she listened while he talked, so it wasn't all one-sided.
So far, so good.
*
Amelia enjoyed meeting new people. She wasn't an introvert, so it was easy for her to feel comfortable even among strangers.
But meeting a new guy? Now, that was intimidating. Part of her was hoping he wouldn't show up tonight, and she could engage with Mick and Tara's friends without any expectations.
She was talking to the team attorney and his wife when Tara tapped her on the shoulder.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but do you mind if I borrow Amelia? There's someone I need to introduce her to."
"Of course," John said.
"It was nice to meet you, Amelia," John's wife, Adele, said.
"Wonderful meeting both of you. I hope you'll stop by Ninety-Two for a meal."
"We definitely will," Adele said.
"Aaron's here. He's the guy I'm setting you up with," Tara said.
"Oh. Okay. Great." So much for him not showing up.
Tara led her to the kitchen, where a very attractive guy was talking to a bunch of other attractive guys. If Aaron was in this group, at least she'd be spending the evening having dinner with one hot-looking man.
Tara touched one of the tall, well-built men on the shoulder. "Aaron."
He turned, and Amelia noted that he wore a navy blue sweater over a white button-down shirt. He had on dark slacks, had sandy brown hair and very nice brown eyes. And the guy had a killer smile.
"Aaron Brooks, this is Amelia Lawrence."
"Hi, Amelia. Tara's told me so much about you."
"Has she?" Amelia slanted a questioning look at Tara, since Tara hadn't told her a thing about Aaron.
"Yeah. I heard you're the new chef at Flynn Cassidy's restaurant. I'm kind of a foodie myself."
"So you cook?"
"No. But I do love to eat. It's one of my favorite pastimes."
She laughed. "I see."
"Excuse me," Tara said. "I think I heard someone at the door."
"Would you like to go somewhere more quiet where we can talk?" He motioned with his head to the chairs over in the corner of the living area.
"That would be great."
Aaron led her over to two comfortable chairs in the corner near the fireplace. On her way, they passed Flynn and Skylar, who were deep in conversation.
Flynn looked up at her as she walked by and smiled. She waved her fingers at him, not wanting to call attention to herself since he was with a date.
This whole thing was so odd.
Aaron had held her glass of wine as they walked, so he set it down on the small table between them.
"Tell me what you do, Aaron."
"I'm actually Mick's accountant. Not a very glamorous job like yours."
"I don't know about that. Math can be very sexy."
He laughed. "I think that might be the first time I've ever heard that, so thanks."
"You're welcome. And I assume you're a football fan?"
"Very much so. Though I have other interests besides sports. And math."
"Good to know. What would those be?"
"I love to sail. I have a boat."
Her brows rose. "Really. That must be incredible. San Francisco is amazing for sailing."
"Yeah, it is. Have you ever been sailing?"
She nodded. "I have. I used to live in Seattle. And then Portland after that. I'm a big fan of living near the water, obviously. And my ex-husband had friends who loved to sail so we were often invited out on their boat."
"Awesome. So you cook and you can sail. What else do you like to do, Amelia?"
She liked that he asked her questions about herself. She'd gone out with plenty of guys who only liked to talk about themselves. They spent a half hour doing a good back and forth getting to know each other. She liked Aaron. There wasn't a buzzy chemistry between them, but he was nice, personable and certainly good-looking.
She was good with that for a first date. Especially for a fix-up.
When Tara announced it was time for dinner, they moved into the dining room, which was beautiful and spacious.
Amelia loved everything about Tara's house here. Tara had given her a tour of the main floor when she'd first arrived. It was warm and open, with a main living area that was incredibly expansive, and floor-to-ceiling windows that looked out over an amazing terrace and golf course.
And, of course, Amelia was in love with the kitchen. Marble countertops with tons of space, a huge island, a chef's stove and a Sub-Zero freezer. Tara had told her they entertained several members of the Sabers whenever she was in town, so she liked to have a lot of room for all of those big guys. And often the entire Riley family would come out and visit, and it was a big family, so Tara enjoyed having room for everyone. Amelia understood the need for that.
As they made their way into the dining room, she made mental notes about the oversized table, the beautiful chandelier and the elegant table settings.
Someday, she'd have a big house like this with an amazing kitchen and dining room.
She and Aaron ended up sitting next to Flynn and Skylar, though with the way the seating was arranged, Aaron sat next to Skylar and Flynn was on the far end.
Which suited her just fine, because she had a nice time talking to Aaron. And Aaron apparently also had a nice time talking to Skylar. It turned out the two of them were acquainted with each other through Tara, and they really hit it off as well. Aaron and Skylar discovered they had gone to the same high school, so while they got reacquainted and talked about common friends, Amelia ended up talking to Maggie, who she discovered managed Tara's event planning business in San Francisco.
Maggie was fun and smart and had a great sense of humor. She'd recently gotten engaged to an amazingly hot guy who sat on her left and seemed totally devoted to her.
"We met at a concert in the park," Maggie said. "I thought he was kind of a stalker at first."
"Hey, I liked you," Jack, her fiance, said. "I mean look at you. You're gorgeous. Can you blame me?"
Maggie blushed. "I warmed up to him pretty quickly once I realized he wasn't a serial killer."
Amelia laughed. "When's the wedding?"
"In April. Jack's family lives in North Dakota, but they're coming out here for the wedding. So there'll be a lot of travel coordinating in addition to the wedding planning."
Jack put his arm around the back of Maggie's chair. "Fortunately, she's an event planner, so she has all this under control. And I just nod and tell her I love everything she chooses."
"He's joking. One of the things I love most about him is that he has opinions."
She really liked these two.
After salads the caterers brought in dinner, which was an amazing seared salmon with capers and asparagus. She spent time talking to both Maggie and Jack as well as Aaron and Skylar.
It was quickly becoming apparent that Aaron and Skylar shared much more chemistry than she did with Aaron. Though Aaron was totally attentive to her and she gave him points for that. A lot of guys would just dump a fix-up and go with the girl who hit his hot buttons. He was being a total gentleman about it and she was going to have to give him an out after dinner.
After a decadent dessert of tiramisu, she finished her coffee, then let Aaron pull out her chair.
"Did you enjoy dinner?" he asked.
"It was wonderful."
"I was wondering how critical you are of food cooked by other people," he asked.
"Oh, not very critical. I mean, I sometimes think about how I might have fixed it differently, but I let the chef in me take a night off every now and then."
He laughed. "Of course."
His gaze strayed over to Skylar, who was chatting with Flynn.
"Aaron?"
He pulled his attention back to Amelia. "Yes."
>
She took his hand. "I've had a lovely time talking to you tonight, but it's obvious you have a much stronger connection with Skylar."
He wrinkled his nose. "Was it that obvious? I'm really sorry."
"Don't be. It's hard to find someone you connect with. And when you do, I think you should go for it."
"I don't know. What about Flynn?"
She looked over to see Skylar reaching up to give Flynn a hug, then turn to glance Aaron's way with a smile. Obviously it wasn't bothering Flynn too much, since he walked away from Skylar without a backward glance.
"I think Flynn is just fine with it."
Aaron picked up her hand and kissed the back of it. "You're a class act, Amelia. I hope you find someone worthy of you."
"Thank you."
She watched as Aaron went over to where Skylar stood by the fireplace. Skylar graced Aaron with a genuine smile.
She had a good feeling about the two of them. She had spent some time with Skylar before Flynn had showed up tonight and she really liked the beautiful, smart woman.
She headed into the kitchen and laid her coffee cup in the sink, deciding maybe more wine was in order. There was a bar set up on the counter, so she grabbed a glass and looked at the selection, trying to decide what she wanted.
"It looks like our dinner companions have found more in common with each other than with us."
She turned and looked up at Flynn. "It would seem that way."
"I hope that doesn't hurt your feelings."
She shrugged. "Aaron's a nice guy and I definitely enjoyed talking to him, but honestly, there was no chemistry between us. I can tell he's got something with Skylar, though."
Flynn nodded. "Yeah. Skylar's really sweet, super smart and funny. I liked her, but it was the same for me. No zing."
Amelia cocked a brow. "Is that zing important?"
"Hell yeah. Isn't it for you?"
"I don't know that I've ever felt a zing before."
He stepped forward. "You haven't? But you were married."
"This is true." She didn't elaborate and he didn't ask, which she was grateful about.
"Time to change that."
She definitely felt something as he grasped her shoulders and pulled her toward him. Whether it could be classified as a zing or every hormone in her body sitting up and taking notice of a hot, delectable man touching her, she didn't know. What she felt was hot fingers on her flesh, his fresh, woodsy scent and the sudden need to reach out and touch him back.
She tilted her head back and lost herself in the blue depths of his eyes.
"Excuse me, you two," Tara said. "I need to do a wine inventory check."
And just like that, the incendiary heat that had enveloped her as soon as Flynn had touched her evaporated. She took a step back and so did Flynn.
"Can I help you with that, Tara?"
"No, I've got this covered. You're here to enjoy the party." Tara looked around. "Where's Aaron?"
"Starting what Flynn and I hope is a very nice relationship with Skylar."
Tara looked at both of them. "Oh. Oops. I'm sorry, guys."
Amelia laughed. "It's not a problem. Sometimes it works out that way."
"But we appreciate the fix-up," Flynn said. "Skylar's sweet."
"She is, isn't she? Hey, at least I did fix up one couple tonight. Just not the way I originally intended."
"Better than everyone going their separate ways," Flynn said. "And let us help you with that."
They ended up pitching in and assisting Tara with her wine inventory. They headed downstairs into the wine cellar, which was pretty incredible. Flynn carted up a case of chardonnay, while Tara and Amelia each carried two bottles of red.
"Thanks for the assist," Tara said. "Now I insist the two of you go join the party."
"All right," Flynn said. "But first, Amelia, how about some wine?"
She'd gotten so caught up in being close to Flynn that she'd completely forgotten about her wine.
"Oh, right, wine."
"What would you like?"
"I'll take that merlot."
While Tara busied herself reorganizing and helping out one of the couples who'd wandered into the kitchen, Flynn expertly opened the bottle and filled her glass. Then he went into the refrigerator and grabbed a beer.
"Let's go sit down somewhere."
"Sure."
They made their way to the private corner where she'd sat with Aaron earlier. She noticed Aaron and Skylar deep in conversation at the fireplace. So much so, they hadn't even acknowledged Amelia and Flynn when they'd walked by.
Yes, those two were going to do just fine.
"It's like no one else in this entire house exists."
Flynn looked over his shoulder at Aaron and Skylar. "Yeah, I'd say they hit it off pretty well."
He returned his attention on her. "And isn't that how it should be with someone you're interested in?"
"Yes."
He picked up her hand, and she experienced that same tremble she'd felt earlier when he'd gotten closer to her.
"That zing I was describing before."
She lifted her gaze to his. "That zing."
His gaze was direct and she couldn't help but focus on his mouth.
"Yeah. It's an attraction. A chemical thing. When you feel a tightening in your body, an awareness of the other person."
His thumb rubbed over her hand. It made her breath catch as tiny sparks--she hated to use the word, but she had no other description for it--zinged through her. It felt like mini electrical shocks quivering within her.
"Do you feel it right now, Amelia? When I touch you?"
She jerked her hand away, forcefully rubbing her skin where, just seconds ago, she'd felt that erotic charge from Flynn. "No."
His lips curved. "You sure about that?"
"Absolutely. I didn't feel a thing."
He leaned back and took a long swallow of his beer, studying her.
There was something so intense about Flynn. She'd felt it months ago when he'd interviewed her. Back then, she'd liked that about him. So many restaurant owners had barely looked at her when they interviewed her, as if she didn't exist. Flynn was all about eye contact, which at the time of the interview she'd really appreciated. He had made her feel like a person, as if her opinions mattered.
Now, though, they weren't talking about the restaurant or food. In fact, they weren't talking at all. She wanted to look away, but there was something incredibly magnetic about his eyes. About all of him, really, from the square cut of his jaw to the thickness of his black hair to the way he smiled.
And then there was his body. She almost wished it wasn't fall and he wasn't wearing a long-sleeved shirt. She'd seen him in short-sleeved shirts before, had gotten a glimpse of his tattoos, though she wanted a closer look not only at his body art, but at his muscles.
She wasn't much for a man with muscles. Her ex had been on the lean side, and that had never bothered her. But now that she was up close with Flynn, she had to admit the idea of running her hands over his biceps or sliding her fingers under his shirt to wander his abs held a certain appeal.
Flynn cleared his throat and her gaze snapped back to his face. Only then did she realize she'd been visually mapping his body as she'd thought about him.
And the telltale smile on his face told her he knew exactly what she'd been doing.
Her face flamed hot. She stood. "Well, I should go refill my wine."
He looked at her glass. "You haven't finished what's in there yet."
"I haven't, have I?"
She abused the poor merlot by downing it in two swallows. "Now I have."
Flynn's lips curved. "Thirsty, Amelia?"
"Apparently. I'll be right back."
She made a quick exit into the kitchen, hoping there'd be someone in there she could talk to so she wouldn't have to go back and talk to Flynn.
Unfortunately, the only people in there were the catering staff, though she did take a few minutes to tell
them how wonderful dinner had been. Then she refilled her wine and reluctantly made her way back into the living room.
Fortunately, there were several people sitting with Flynn now, including with Tara and Mick.
She breathed a sigh of relief.
There was entirely too much going on between her and Flynn at the moment.
Okay, actually, there had been nothing going on. But whatever the nothing was, it had been incendiary and confusing. So she was glad the two of them weren't going to be alone.
Which made no sense and she was going to chalk that train of thought up to the wine she'd consumed. And the nearness of the hot man.
She headed over to them. Tara motioned to her.
"Come sit by Maggie and me. The guys are talking football."
"Jack loves football," Maggie said, making room for Amelia on the sofa where she sat with Tara. "He played in college, so when we all get together it's like he's on the team."
"Fortunately, we can always talk our business while they talk their business," Tara said, "so it's easy to ignore them."
"Understandable," Amelia said. "And how nice that you can come out here, visit with Maggie and check on things at your shop. Plus, see your husband and watch some football at the same time."
Tara nodded. "It really is the best of both worlds. Usually I bring our youngest, Sam, with me. He does miss his daddy during football season. But he's just getting over a flu bug so this time he didn't get to make the trip."
Amelia made a sympathetic face. "Aww. I'm sure he's very disappointed."
"Very much so. But Mick's been doing video chats with him every day, and I promised him I'd make a return trip for Mick's next home game. And fortunately, the Sabers are playing in Kansas City in a few weeks. He won't play against St. Louis until later in the season, but since Kansas City is so close, we'll drive over for the game. Sam will love it."
"That's great news."
"Yes. Good for Flynn, too," Tara said. "He'll get to see his brother Tucker, who will also come over."
Flynn looked over at the mention of his name. "What's good for me?"
"That the Sabers are playing against Kansas City in a few weeks. And you'll get to see Tucker."
"Oh, yeah. It's always nice to see family. We play St. Louis here at home this season, too, which means Grant will be here."
"That's right," Tara said. "Even more family."
Flynn grinned. "Even better to play against one of my brothers."
"That competitive, are you?" Amelia asked.
"Just a little."
Tara shook her head. "I'm not sure who's more competitive--the Rileys or the Cassidys."