Escorting the Groom (The Escort Collection 4)

There was a knock on my door, and Lucas stuck his head in. "You ready?" His eyes traveled over me slowly and I flushed. "I'm going with yes. As in hell yes."

I laughed. "Then you'd be right."

"I like being right. I also like that dress." He opened the door and gestured me out. "And I'm starving."

"Me too," I admitted. I'd been so nervous about the job, then so busy settling in and researching wedding options that I'd barely eaten. Bourbon was the only thing I'd had all afternoon. My stomach howled.

"You didn't even have to say it. I can read your mind. Or at least hear your stomach." He smiled and held his hand out for me, and I tentatively reached for him. "I'm sorry I left you locked in here all afternoon. You know you can come and go as you please, right? And help yourself to anything in the kitchen?"

The truth was, I'd been too afraid to leave the apartment. I was worried I wouldn't be able to figure out how to get back in, and I hadn't really known what to do with myself. "I know. Thanks." I grabbed my clutch, and we headed toward the door.

Lucas was wearing a dark suit over a white button-down shirt, open at the throat. He

looked impossibly dashing. His dark curls glittered in the early-evening light, and a five-o'clock shadow covered his square-cut chin.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"My favorite restaurant in the North End. Do you like Italian?"

My mouth started to water. "It's my favorite."

"You know what, Blake? We have more in common than I'd hoped." He led me into the elevator, and I noticed that my heart was pounding. I tried not to think about what was going to happen after dinner…

"I told my assistant that I was engaged today." Lucas looked a little sheepish. "She was… excited, to say the least. Can we invite her to the wedding?"

"Of course." I felt oddly touched. "I had the chance to look at some different venues this afternoon."

"Great. Tell me about them over dinner. You look beautiful, by the way."

I flushed in pleasure. As soon as the doors opened, Lucas pulled me through the opulent lobby. Several of the guests and hotel staff stared at us. We must have made a tall, attractive, expensive-looking pair.

"Ian." Lucas nodded to his driver, who was waiting out front. "North End, please."

I thrilled at the way the city looked from inside Lucas's luxury SUV, riding high above the heat and humidity of the streets. It was still light at seven o'clock. The summer day was stretching out, long and languorous. "So… how was work?"

"We sound like an old married couple already." He laughed, seeming more relaxed than he had that afternoon. "It was fine. I'll actually have to be going back in soon." He checked his watch.

"You mean after dinner?"

"Yeah. I have to speak with some of my Chinese colleagues. The time difference makes it necessary to go in at odd hours." He shrugged. "It's not a big deal. I'm not much of a sleeper."

I felt a little crestfallen, knowing that he would be heading back downtown instead of the penthouse. Part of me was getting curious to see that chest of his and find out what else he had going on underneath that suit.

Part of me just wanted to get it over with, because the first time with a new client was always awkward.

"How many hours a week do you usually work?" I asked, trying to redirect my thoughts from the gutter.

"Most of them." He smiled, and I noticed again that he had a dimple. Just the one. "What about you?"

I was taken aback. "Um… do you really want to know the answer to that?"

"We're business partners, remember?" Our eyes locked for a moment. "But we don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"I don't want to," I said immediately.

"Is it that bad?" His gentle tone surprised me.

"You don't have to feel sorry for me," I said.