An Engagement for Two

by Marie Ferrarella

  “End of story?” Nikki questioned. “And he’s a restaurateur?” Those details she’d already gotten from her mother. She wanted to get to the meat, to find out how Mikki felt about the man. “Didn’t he at least offer to give you a free meal for saving his mother’s life?”

  “Well, yes, he did, but—” Mikki stopped abruptly. Something wasn’t adding up. “Wait, how do you know I saved his mother’s life?”

  “I know you,” Nikki reminded her, brazening it out. “You said ‘complications.’ I extrapolated.”

  “Uh-huh.” Okay, maybe she bought that. But there was still something being left out. “And who told you about the flowers?”

  Nikki merely laughed. “I have my sources. So when are you going?”

  The question caught her off guard. “To what?”

  “To the restaurant. C’mon, Mikki, keep up here,” Nikki stressed, trying to get answers out of her friend without Mikki getting suspicious.

  Mikki felt herself getting warm and she pushed the feeling away, doing her best to remain aloof from the situation. “He said he’d reserve a table for me at eight tomorrow.”

  Finally, they were getting somewhere, Nikki thought. “So what are you wearing?”

  “Nothing—”

  “You’re going naked?” Nikki teased. “That’s a daring move, but you do realize that there are laws about that, right?”

  “Very funny,” Mikki responded. “I said ‘nothing’ because I’m not going.”

  There were times when her best friend made her want to tear her hair out. It was time for her to stop hiding, step up and become part of life. “For heaven sakes, Mikki, why not?” she cried.

  Mikki blew out a long breath. “Because.”

  “Because is a conjunction,” Nikki pointed out patiently, “it’s not a reason. A good-looking man wants to express his gratitude by springing for dinner at a place he owns. Why would you want to insult him by not going?”

  “Who says he’s good-looking?” Mikki asked, suspicion creeping into her voice again.

  Nikki never missed a beat. “You did.”

  “No, I didn’t,” Mikki protested.

  So she explained it to her—and hoped the explanation would be enough to deter Mikki’s suspicions. “Again, I know you. If this was a man whose face would stop a clock, or who was a wizened old troll, you wouldn’t hesitate taking him up on his invitation—after all, it’s a public restaurant. But you’re thinking of not taking him up on his invitation and there can only be one reason for that. Because he’s good-looking and you’re afraid it might lead to something.”

  Listening, Mikki could only shake her head. “You know, you’re letting all this talent go to waste. You should have been a police detective or a private investigator.”

  “And with that fancy footwork of yours, you should have been a professional dancer,” Nikki countered. Maybe this was going to work out after all. “Now, as your best friend, I’m telling you to take this man up on his offer and show up at his restaurant tomorrow.”

  Mikki was honest with her—there was no point in telling her friend that she was wrong or imagining things. “I don’t want to risk starting anything.”

  Nikki fell back on a play on words. “I have news for you—you’ve been eating for a long time now.”

  Mikki sighed. “You know what I mean.”

  Nikki grew serious. “Yes, I do, and you can’t keep running like this.”

  “I’m not running,” Mikki protested with a touch of indignation she did her best to pull off.

  “Sprinting, then,” Nikki corrected. “Look, I know how you feel. You’re afraid of getting involved with someone, but that fear is keeping you from possibly finding more happiness than you could imagine. I was afraid, too, once—”

  “You had the normal kind of fear that everyone has.”

  “Right,” Nikki agreed. “Just like you.”

  “No, not just like me,” Mikki contradicted. “I have a family with a history of making colossal mistakes.” Scenes from her mother’s multiple marriages did a slide show through her brain, and she shuddered. “Soul-destroying mistakes.”

  “Mikki, you’re not your mother,” her friend insisted. “You’re smarter, sharper and kinder—and that’s just for openers. What you’re experiencing, oh beloved friend of mine, are cold feet.”

  Mikki laughed harshly. “Try frozen.”

  “There’s one good way to warm frozen feet up, you know,” Nikki said.

  Mikki sighed. “You’re just not going to give me any peace until I wind up going to this man’s restaurant, are you?”

  “Good call. I always said you were brilliant. I intend to hound you forever,” Nikki answered. “Or at least until you go and have that dinner.”

  “Okay, okay,” Mikki cried, surrendering. “I’ll turn up at his restaurant tomorrow.”

  “Wonderful!” Nikki declared, victorious. “Dinner’s at eight, right?”

  “Right,” Mikki answered uncertainly, wondering what her friend was up to.

  “All right, I’ll be at your place tomorrow at six.”

  Mikki nearly choked. “Why?”

  “To help you get dressed,” Nikki answered matter-of-factly.

  Okay, she needed to set limits here. “Nik, you might not know it, but I’ve been getting dressed by myself for years now.”

  “Right,” Nikki agreed. “And you look very competent and authoritative, but that’s not how you want to look on a date.”

  This wasn’t a date, it was dinner, Mikki silently protested. Out loud she said, “No offense, but I don’t need supervision.”

  “I’ve known you since elementary school,” Nikki reminded her. “And in that time, you’ve never gone out on a date.”

  “And I’m not going on a date now,” she insisted. “I’m just having dinner. By myself,” she emphasized. Before Nikki could say otherwise or embellish on the situation, she told her friend, “I’m going to the man’s restaurant and he’s going to be working.”

  “He told you that?” Nikki asked. This was not what her mother was supposed to arrange, she thought, wondering if signals had gotten crossed.

  “No,” Mikki admitted, “but I’m going there during work hours...”

  Nikki suppressed a guttural sound of frustration. “How is it that you’re so brilliant and so totally naive at the same time?” she asked.

  “I am not naive,” Mikki retorted.

  Nikki merely laughed. “Right. None are so blind as those who refused to see. I’ll be there tomorrow at six. And don’t bother coming up with any excuses or stories why you can’t go. You’re going if I have to strap you to the roof of my car and drive you over there myself.”

  When had Nikki gotten so bossy? “Are you this dictatorial with Luke? Because if you are, he has my condolences.”

  Nikki ended their conversation by telling her friend, “You’re going,” and then hanging up.

  * * *

  This was a bad idea.

  Mikki was convinced of it.

  The phrase kept whispering through her head each time she thought about tomorrow night or about possibly eating her dinner while seated across from Jeff. And each time it whispered through her mind, her stomach tied itself up into knots. Big, fat, hard knots.

  Nikki was absolutely right. The thought of spending any time with someone as good-looking as Jeff Sabatino made her more nervous than she could put into words. Not because he was handsome, but because he was handsome and nice.

  It was his personality and the fact that he was good to his mother that made her so nervous. Because it was precisely that nice quality that attracted her to him.

  Attraction was the first rung on the ladder that would eventually lead to disaster.

  Mikki frowned, trying her best to ward off a meltdown.

  Nikki was right in one re
spect. Mikki wasn’t her mother. She wasn’t shallow like Veronica, falling for looks and hoping that things would work out. Though she was willing to admit that looks could be very compelling, they were also only skin-deep, and while it was nice to have a handsome face to look at, that didn’t complete the portrait.

  It was the person beneath the looks who counted.

  But the bottom line was that she didn’t want to fall for a person’s looks, for his decency or his personality. Because inevitably, one or all three would lead to a place called heartbreak.

  She’d watched her mother fall apart and carry on too many times. There was no way she would ever emulate that behavior. No way would she ever be in her mother’s one-size-too-small shoes.

  * * *

  She was still giving herself that pep talk the next day. Half a dozen times she had reached for the phone, ready to call Dinner for Two to cancel her reservation.

  She made her last attempt to pick up the landline receiver as Nikki was fussing with her makeup. She had gotten as far as saying, “Hello, I have a reservation tonight for eight o’clock—”

  She didn’t get the opportunity to give her name because Nikki very deftly, without missing a beat, terminated the call.

  “Yes, you do,” she said when Mikki looked at her accusingly as she hung up the receiver. “And you are keeping that reservation come hell or high water, remember? I’m driving you.”

  Mikki caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Nikki had gone all out, she thought, trying not to smile at what she saw. “I can drive myself.”

  “I have my doubts about that,” Nikki replied.

  Mikki made another attempt to dissuade her. “You can’t drive me, because then I’ll have no way to get home.”

  Nikki paused just before putting finishing touches on her hairstyle. “Well, maybe Jeff can drive you home.”

  “No,” Mikki replied firmly. She knew what her friend was thinking. She wanted Jeff to bring her home because she was hoping there would be a natural progression of things after that. Well, that wasn’t going to happen.

  “All right, how’s this? We’ll compromise,” Nikki suggested. “You can drive yourself to the restaurant—but just to be sure that you do get there, I’m going to follow you in my car.”

  “Don’t you have a life?” Mikki demanded.

  “A very full one, thank you,” Nikki replied. “And that’s why I’m doing all this, because I’m hoping to help you get a life like mine, too. I want you to have what I have.”

  Mikki rolled her eyes. “I never knew you had this matchmaking streak in you.”

  Nikki neither admitted to nor denied the accusation. “Life is a series of evolutions,” she simply informed her friend. “There,” Nikki pronounced, standing back. And then she declared, “Perfect, even if I do say so myself. And now, Cinderella,” she said, glancing at her watch, “if you don’t want to miss the ball, I suggest you hustle yourself into that chariot of yours before it suddenly turns into a pumpkin.”

  “If there’s going to be any pumpkin-turning going on here, my money’s all on you, kid,” Mikki said.

  “Okay, stop stalling, grab your purse and let’s go.”

  Mikki looked at her incredulously. “You’re really going to follow me there?”

  “Every inch of the way.”

  Mikki took another stab at getting her friend to reconsider. “Isn’t Luke going to be annoyed that you left him with the kids all this time?”

  “Only if I tell him that I let you go to the restaurant alone,” Nikki answered.

  Mikki just shook her head. “You’re both crazy, you know that?”

  “That’s why we go so well together,” Nikki said with a grin. “He wants you to be happy, too. Now, let’s go!”

  Resigned, wanting to get this over with, Mikki picked up her purse. She could feel the giant butterflies already climbing on for the ride.

  Chapter Ten

  Mikki glanced in her rearview mirror every few minutes. And each time she did, her best friend’s silver-gray sedan was right there behind her.

  True to her word—or threat—Nikki followed her all the way to Dinner for Two. Not only that, but when she parked in the restaurant’s lot, so did Nikki.

  Expecting her friend to accompany her into the restaurant to make sure she went in, Mikki braced herself. Much as she loved Nikki, she was going to put her foot down and tell her she needed to get back into her car and go home to her husband and kids.

  But she didn’t have to.

  Nikki remained in her vehicle, giving no sign that she was about to get out. The woman did, however, stay and watch her, obviously waiting for her to enter the restaurant.

  Mikki had no doubts that the pediatrician would remain in the parking lot for at least several minutes to make sure that she didn’t slip back out of the restaurant and make good her escape.

  Putting her hand on the brass door handle, Mikki turned and, with a smile frozen in place, she waved at her best friend.

  What’s the matter with you? Go inside already. You’re behaving like some paranoid lunatic. This is just dinner, not a betrothal. The man’s grateful to you for saving his mother’s life and he’s just trying to show his gratitude. He’s not about to whisk you off to a Las Vegas wedding chapel on his private jet. If you even mentioned that to him, he’d probably turn pale and run for the nearest exit—while calling to have you committed.

  Take a deep breath and get in there, Michelle McKenna.

  She braced her shoulders and, still giving herself a pep talk, she entered the restaurant. The interior looked like something out of a painting of an old English manor. It even had a fire going in the redbrick fireplace. The words warm and cozy sprang to mind.

  A hostess standing behind a tall desk looked her way the moment the doors closed behind her. “May I help you?” the young woman asked.

  “I think I have a reservation for eight,” Mikki told her uncertainly. Jeff had told her that he would reserve a table for her, but for all she knew, he might have gotten busy and forgotten all about it.

  Or maybe he’d just decided to think better of the situation and hadn’t made the reservation at all.

  The hostess smiled pleasantly and asked, “Name, please?”

  “Dr. Michelle McKenna,” Mikki told her.

  She watched as the hostess scanned the computer screen, running her well-manicured, light pink–polished index finger along it a total of three times. Finally, the young woman looked up apologetically.

  “I’m sorry. I’m afraid I don’t see you on today’s list. Could the reservation be under someone else’s name?” she asked helpfully.

  “No, it was just for a party of one,” Mikki told the hostess. She knew she shouldn’t have come. Embarrassed, all she wanted to do was to leave. “I’m sorry, I guess there’s been some sort of a mistake,” she said, beginning to turn away from the reservation desk.

  “The mistake was mine,” a deep voice said. “I made the reservation in my name,” Jeff explained as he came up behind the hostess. Coming around the desk, he greeted Mikki with a warm smile. “I’m sorry, I should have told you that I put it in my name. Force of habit.” Plucking a menu from the desk, his smile widened as he looked at her. “You came. I had my doubts.”

  “So did I,” Mikki admitted in an unguarded moment.

  He liked her honesty, he thought. Among other qualities. “Well, you’re here now and you won’t be sorry. I had to do a little bit of juggling,” he told her, leading the way to a centrally located table, “but we have the best table in the restaurant.”

  “We?” Mikki asked. Her stomach tightened. On the way over, she’d almost talked herself into believing that he just wanted to have her here for dinner, but he’d be busy elsewhere.

  “Yes, I’m eating with you,” he explained. Then, rethinking the situation, he said, “Unless yo
u’d rather I didn’t.”

  She couldn’t very well tell the man that she preferred eating alone, not without insulting him. Besides, this was his restaurant.

  But she made one last attempt at a reprieve. “I thought you were very busy here.”

  “Happily, I am,” he confirmed. “But I always felt that there was no lonelier feeling than eating alone in a room full of couples and families. Even the best food has a way of sticking to the roof of your mouth in that sort of situation. After what you did for my mother, the way you put her at ease and took care of her, not to mention saving her life, I wanted you to have the very best experience possible here.” He held out her chair for her.

  “And that’s dining with you?” Mikki asked. Despite the mounting butterflies in her stomach, amusement curved the corners of her mouth as she asked the question.

  Jeff took his seat opposite her. “Now that I play that back in my head, that does sound as if I’m rather full of myself, doesn’t it?” he admitted with a self-deprecating laugh.

  Mikki laughed softly, doing her best to relax. “No, that sounds rather thoughtful of you, really.”

  Opening the dark green menu, she took a moment to look over each of the four oversize pages with their long lists of appetizers and main courses. There were two more pages after that, one with a full spectrum of beverages and one offering an array of sinfully rich desserts.

  There was just too much to choose from. It would be tomorrow before she could make up her mind. So, closing the menu, Mikki decided to leave the choice up to Jeff instead.

  “So what’s good here?” she finally asked, setting the menu on the table beside her.

  He knew every item listed, was responsible for having created most of them. And while she had been studying the menu, he’d been covertly studying her. The subtle overhead lighting all but made love to her, highlighting her high cheekbones and smooth skin like a smitten teenager. Making her so beautiful, it almost hurt to look at her.

  When she asked her question, the first response that occurred to him was one that he wasn’t at liberty to voice.

  You.