Steve nodded. “That will be last minute and weird, but I love it.”
Amy nodded, frantically writing on her legal pad. “It will also give the audience a sense of ownership,” she said. “Hopefully they’ll be telling their friends to watch the show, but they’ll also be pointing out their own special little pieces in the background.”
“It will be like a game of spot the candlestick,” Devon laughed. “Great idea, Lindsay.”
I squeezed her hand again as she grinned to herself. But I noticed that she was cringing back into the couches if she wanted to disappear.
The conversation went on for another twenty minutes, but everyone agreed that the few twists they made to the classic talk show format were indeed working.
Everyone got up to leave, and Amy came over to thank me. Then she turned and shook Lindsay’s hand. “Great input. Thank you,” she said.
Lindsay just smiled and nodded. She seemed hugely relieved when I threw out our sandwich wrappers and led her down the hall. “Are you finished for the day?” she asked.
“Yes. There’s a cute martini lounge around the corner. May I take you for a drink?”
She nodded eagerly. We went out the back door, and I took her down a side street before heading back to Queen West.
“You were fabulous in the meeting,” I said.
“I felt like an intruder,” she said softly.
“Not at all, sweetie. You had an amazing idea. That’s why we need regular people’s input as well.” I wrapped an arm around her waist. “Although you’re certainly not regular, are you?”
Lindsay’s head tilted as she looked up at me. “Are you saying that I’m a weirdo?”
“I’m saying that you are irregular in the best of ways. You are magical.” I kissed her gently, loving the way she seemed to melt every time I touched her.
The next hour and a half was a happy blur of getting to know her in the corner of the lounge over one chocolate martini each.
I learned that her father had left her family when she was little, which filled me with more anger than I would have expected. Apparently she was the shy, bookworm type, which I’d always found adorable.
She worked in an office for a fancy lawyer. I almost bristled from the thought of some man ordering her around. But since he was married with two kids, it sounded like he was definitely more of a father figure. She said that he treated her well, so that’s all I needed to know.
I confessed my love of carpentry, which led me to the theater in high school, since the shop class kids were always given set building duty. Steve and I had taken some college courses, then started our own company right away. I admitted that our business was a little dicey sometimes, since we couldn’t schedule anything in advance.
Lindsay seemed to understand that work came first, and we had to take every job. She also seemed to enjoy the way I couldn’t stop touching her, always having my hand on her back, her knee, her hand. I don’t know why I needed to keep a connection with her. I felt like this entire relationship was set on fast-forward, and it felt right.
CHAPTER FIVE
* Lindsay *
The way he kept touching me was incredible. It felt like we were truly bonding in every way. I couldn’t believe that he brought me to his workplace and introduced me to his coworkers and clients after just having met me yesterday. It felt like he wanted me to be a real part of his life, right away.
This was the connection that I’d been hoping to find. A great guy who would want to be with me, and not treat me like an inconvenience. Someone who would never leave me.
As we finished our martinis, Dale turned to me with a strange look. “Hey, you never told me precisely about that bet or whatever it was with your friends. Was it a dare? Did they think you didn’t have the nerve to speak to me?”
I felt myself blushing immediately. “It wasn’t you, exactly. They’d been telling me that I had to learn to talk to guys, and we agreed that I should go up and talk to someone for just a minute. Since all of the guys in the bar were regulars, I said I’d talk to the next guy who walked in.”
His thumb trailed along my bottom lip, distracting me. “So this gorgeous mouth was going to kiss any old guy who wandered in the door?”
“No, not at all. I was just going to talk to him for a few minutes. But then it turned out to be you, and…” I turned, wrapping my arms around his shoulders. “I can’t believe this sort of seems real.”
His lips bounced across my forehead and nose, kissing me everywhere, ignoring that we were on a couch in the back of a lounge with people everywhere. “I’m just your random guy who showed up at the right time?” he smiled.
“No,” I said, catching his face between my hands. “I think you’re the right guy.”
“I want to be your man,” he said softly. “I want you to be mine.”