A Fortunate Arrangement

Felicity was not used to having so much of his attention focused on her, which was a little uncomfortable. He was talking to her, learning about her like she’d hope a guy would if they were out on a date.

This is not a date.

After the server took their order, Felicity turned the tables on Austin, asking him questions that she would ask a date. Though she knew most of the answers, tonight he seemed different, an open book, his mood lighter, and she fully intended to mine him for what she could get. She was pleasantly surprised by how he opened right up and answered candidly.

“My sister Savannah—have you met her?”

“I did at one of the company picnics. She’s the one who’s going to school in Texas, right?”

“Yes, in Austin. She and her boyfriend are in town. I’m eager to see her. They’re staying with my parents and they’ll be here for the ball.”

“It will be nice to see her again,” Felicity said.

Felicity started to ask Austin if she should seat Savannah and her beau at his table or at their parents’ table, but she stopped herself. If she turned the conversation back to work, it might break this delicate spell that seemed to be cast over the evening. Instead, she made a mental note to talk about seating charts when they were back in the office, which would happen soon enough. Too soon for her liking, in fact.

Why can’t this night last forever?

That way, she wouldn’t have to remind him about Macks’s invitation, which she’d left on his desk to make sure that he saw it and didn’t somehow push it aside.

As if he read her mind, he said, “Did Mackenzie Cole stop by this afternoon?”

A curse word that wasn’t usually part of Felicity’s vocabulary popped in her brain. They really were on the same wavelength tonight. But why did he have to pick up on her thoughts of Macks? Then again, maybe it was better that it was the Macks train of thought rather than the other, more private tidbits she’d been pondering.

Plus, this provided the perfect opportunity to do a little digging.

And he called her Mackenzie. Not Macks. Hmm...is that good or bad? Or does he only call her Macks in private? When it’s just the two of them.

“Yes, she came by with an invitation for an art show opening. I put it on your desk.”

“I saw it.”

“Are you going? I mean, should I put it on your calendar?”

Her heart thudded in her chest as she waited for the moment of truth.

He shrugged, as if he hadn’t even considered it. “It’s a show at her gallery. I’ve never heard of the artist. So, I don’t know if I’ll go.”

Inwardly, she cheered.

Felicity one. Macks zero.

“Yeah, maybe I will. It would be nice to support her.”

Why does she need your support? She’s the kind of woman who gets everything.

Felicity zero. Macks one million.

“She’s pretty.” Felicity figured she might as well go for broke and get to the heart of the matter.

“Is she?”

“Hello? Have you not met her? She’s gorgeous.”

Calm down. You’re not trying to sell Austin on her.

“I have, but—”

“She seems like your type.”

Is she your type, Austin?

Stepping this close to the edge and looking down on the truth gave her a strange sense of vertigo that made her feel vaguely dizzy and queasy.

The observation seemed to catch him off guard.

“My type? I’m not sure I have a type.”

“I mean she’s pretty and seems sophisticated and...”

He shrugged. “Yeah, well, even if she was my type, as you say, she’s a prospective client. It might get weird.”

Momentarily bolstered by Austin’s seeming lack of interest in Macks, Felicity let herself daydream a moment, pretending that the people who were dining around them looked at Austin and her, sitting cozy in the corner and deep in conversation, and thought they were on a date. Or that they were a couple.

She tried to shut out the dissident voice in the back of her mind, warning herself not to get her hopes up, because it would be a long, hard fall if she was mistaken.

* * *

“Finally! It’s about time I get to see my big brother.” Standing just inside the foyer, where the elevator opened into Austin’s Central Business District penthouse condo, Savannah Fortune threw her arms around Austin. “You’d better have a good reason for not being at Mom and Dad’s last night and it better have to do with a woman.”