Leah glanced over at Jason, taking in the somber set of his jaw, the bleak and vaguely defeated look in his eyes.
For the first time, she wondered if the aftermath of their relationship hadn’t played out quite the way she’d envisioned—with him smugly moving on to the next woman, while she’d subsisted on ice cream bars and watching The Way We Were on repeat for two months straight before she’d managed to throw herself back into the dating ring. Unsuccessfully so far, she might add.
“Surely you’ve been to at least one wedding where you looked at the bride and groom and thought, ‘Them. They’re going to make it’?” Leah asked, steering conversation toward safer topics.
“Sure,” he said, cutting off another piece of his steak. “My sister’s.”
Leah’s hand froze in the process of dragging a piece of bread through the deliciously buttery sauce on her plate. Sister? “I thought you were . . . I thought . . .”
“Foster kid?” he asked without emotion. “I was. Didn’t even know I had a sister until she found me a few years back. Same mom, different dads.”
“I didn’t realize,” Leah said quietly.
He looked uncomfortable. “I don’t . . . I don’t mention her much. It’s weird to spend your entire life thinking you’re an only child, having nobody, and then all of a sudden this sibling shows up on your doorstep, and it’s . . . You just never know how it’s going to work out, you know?”
Jason’s voice was nonchalant, but Leah’s heart ached for him. She hurt at the realization that this man, by default, was skeptical of trusting anyone. He simply expected everyone to walk away.
Just like she had.
Leah pushed that last thought away. Their situation was different. She hadn’t left him so much as saved them both a whole lot of awkward when he realized that what was a fun summer fling for him had become a hell of a lot more for her.
“Your sister’s wedding . . . Did you work it?”
He shook his head and took a sip of wine. “I offered. I’d have done it for free, obviously. But she . . .” Jason glanced down at his plate. “She wanted me to walk her down the aisle.”
His voice was puzzled, as though he still couldn’t quite believe it, and again Leah felt that ache in her chest.
“I’m glad she found you,” Leah said before she could think better of it.
His gaze locked on hers, looking very much like he wanted to say something, but instead he gave a slight shake of his head. “So what’s the plan tomorrow?”
Leah blinked, surprised by the sudden change in conversation to work, but all too happy to go to a safer place where she wasn’t tempted to touch him. Care for him.
She hadn’t even seen him in a year, for God’s sake.
Leah forced her mind back to the wedding. Typically the photographer didn’t come into play until the day of the wedding, but since this was a high-profile destination wedding, all of the vendors had arrived on Thursday for a Saturday ceremony.
Friday—tomorrow—would be all about prep and celebrating during the day, before the evening rehearsal and dinner that followed.
Normally Leah would have been thrilled to be part of what was sure to be one of the more lavish weddings she’d ever worked.
But right now all she could think about was that it meant more time working alongside Jason.
And yet you agreed to go to dinner with him.
“Well, I’ve been assuming I’ll take the whole spa-day portion,” Leah said, forcing her attention back to work. “Unless of course you’re desperate for some girl talk.”
“Spa day’s all you. Much as I do love debating nail polish colors, early mornings aren’t my thing, and the calendar Alexis sent over said that the first mani/pedi appointments start at seven a.m., so they’ll be done in time for a champagne brunch. Pass.”
Leah smirked. “Well, did you also see that the guys’ tee time is five a.m., and they want shots of the groom and former president teeing off?”
“Shit,” he muttered. “I knew there was golf involved, I just hadn’t looked at the time yet.”
“Good thing we’re doing an early dinner,” she said, popping a piece of bread in her mouth.
Leah glanced up and found him watching her—or, more specifically, watching her mouth. The bread suddenly felt dry, and she took a sip of water, both to wash it down and to cool her suddenly flaming lady parts.
What was it with her body’s reaction to this guy?
“Red.”
She forced herself to meet his eyes, alarmed to find that they were smoldering. As though he knew her every dirty thought and wanted to act them out in a slow, torturous pace. And then repeat.
“What?” Damn it. Her voice came out all husky.
“I booked the early dinner reservation on purpose. And not because of our early-morning wake-up call.”
Leah was already shaking her head. “Don’t do that. I already told you—”
“I know what you told me.” He leaned closer to her and lowered his voice so only she could hear. “I also know the way you’re looking at me. I know that if I took you back to my room right now and dipped my hand into your panties, I’d find you wet and silky and ready for me.”