It added some extra confidence to my stride…right up until I almost tripped over my feet when I spotted my mystery man standing next to a booth in the far-left corner of the restaurant.
“Hey, isn’t that—?”
I practically shoved my cousin into the private VIP room the hostess was leading us to. “Shh,” I hissed. “He might hear you.”
“Why is that a problem?” she asked as she made a beeline over to the bar set up on the opposite side of the room.
In a hurry to get away from the open door and windows that looked out on the main part of the restaurant, I stalked after her. “Then he’d see me.”
“Again, I don’t see the problem,” Maria said with an eye roll.
“I went up to him on the street, out of nowhere, and flung myself at him! If he sees me here, he’ll probably think I’m crazy.” I glanced over my shoulder to scan the restaurant in search of him. “Like I’m stalking him or something.”
“You’re the furthest thing from a stalker,” she snorted, shaking her head. “But he’d be lucky if you did decide to stalk him. You’re a catch, Amelia. Smart, pretty, and nice.”
Moments like this reminded me why I loved my cousin so much. Our personalities were opposites, but we were always there for each other. Even though it sometimes involved her pushing me outside my comfort zone. Like last night, when I kissed a stranger. My mystery man.
And there it was. Every thought I’d had since then had led to him. I caught myself starting to turn toward the interior windows again and bit down on my lip. No matter how badly I wanted to see him again, it was bound to go horribly wrong. He was sure to think I was crazy after the stunt I’d pulled. Although he had pulled me in for another kiss after I’d backed away…
I shook my head in an attempt to clear my thoughts. No amount of wishful thinking was going to change how we met and give me a real chance with the only man I’d ever really wanted. I just had to survive this party without him seeing me, and then I could try to forget about what happened. I was upset enough by the idea that I downed one of the shots Maria was handing out and almost choked as it burned going down.
The bartender handed me a glass of water as my cousin patted me on the back. “Damn, Amelia. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you take a shot before. If I’d known that Vegas would bring out this side of you, I would have dragged you here sooner.”
I just shook my head as I sipped at my water, refusing to give her any encouragement.
“Hello, ladies. My name is Kimberly, and I’ll be your server this evening.” We all turned to smile at the young woman who walked into the room. “If you’d like to take your seats, I’ll start with your appetizer orders. Unless you’d prefer for me to just do a variety of our best sellers since my boss is covering everything? Then you could sit down when then food is ready.”
Figuring it was going to be like herding cats to get everyone to the table, I answered, “Please go ahead and get us whatever you think we’d like best.”
“Will do,” she chirped before swiveling on one foot to head back out the door.
It wasn’t until the waitress was gone that my brow wrinkled as I realized that she had said her boss was covering our meal and drinks. I was confused because The Artemis wasn’t a Lennox property, and Drew had said he’d set this all up since they’d messed up our reservation for tonight. Maybe she’d gotten it mixed up? Or the owners of the two resorts had a reciprocal arrangement when situations like this came up?
As Maria shoved a frozen cocktail into my hand, I shrugged my shoulders. Which billionaire covered our tab wasn’t important. Avoiding my mystery man while celebrating my cousin’s upcoming wedding was what mattered.
4
Zack
As I entered the restaurant from the kitchen, I checked my watch for the millionth time. Finally seeing that it was time for the bachelorette party to arrive, I exhaled a deep breath. I’d spent all day going over the details of the party with my staff. My head chef, Deke, and I discussed their meal and snacks, and I instructed him to only give their food to Kimberly, the waitress I’d assigned to the girls. I wanted to make sure Amelia and her friends were safe and no one had the opportunity to tamper with their food. With the open bar and the wildness I’d seen the night before, they were bound to end up plastered, making them easy prey. Not that we’d had a problem with people trying to slip drugs to our customers, but I wasn’t willing to take any risks when it came to the woman I already considered mine.