Some Like it Hotter

Inside, the usual crowd, gowned and jeweled, suited or tuxedoed.

“My, how the masses sparkle,” he murmured to Eva.

“Please don’t refer to them as the masses. They hate that,” she whispered back.

“Champagne?” A waiter swooped by with a tray, then swooped away.

“Cheers.” Ames clinked glasses with Eva and led her over to meet his boss.

Mr. Boyce loved her. Mrs. Boyce loved her. His clients loved her. And why not? She was polite, charming, listened well, asked good questions and reacted in ways that made her conversation partners feel important and interesting.

During the excellent dinner, she used all the right silverware from the bewildering array, sipped and commented on the wines with intelligence and perceptiveness clearly stemming from her vast experience smelling, tasting and judging coffees. She could even use some of the wine crowd’s favorite vocabulary—mouthfeel, acidity, finish; clean, buttery, grassy, fruity; chocolate, earth, tobacco—with clear authority.

He was damned impressed. More so when she turned the tables on these wine experts and talked about the coffee-roasting process, taking them from the natural green bean through different stages, defined by visual cues and temperature and sound—the lighter roasts, cinnamon, New England and American to the medium roasts, City, Full City and Vienna, to the dark roasts, French, Italian and finally Spanish—discussing the changes in flavor.

She was a hit. He’d had nothing to worry about, and felt ashamed and embarrassed that he ever had been— except that like all couples, they were learning about each other by encountering different circumstances together.

The most ironic part of the evening was that after all that worry, Ames missed the Eva he knew. He felt as if he’d forced her to crawl into a little box without enough air. He wanted to see her eyes sparkle with enthusiasm, to see her jump up and suggest a game of musical chairs or a group trip to a karaoke bar. Come on everyone, let’s party!

He loved her. Her spirit, her liveliness and that endless sense of fun. And he wanted a serious shot at finding out what they could be together.

How, he had no idea. Unless his company started selling wines from central California, he’d have very little opportunity to visit her. And her job didn’t allow for extensive travel.

How long could you keep up a serious relationship on Skype?

More to the point, who would want a serious relationship on Skype? It would be one thing if one or the other of them was planning to relocate, and keeping in touch by phone and computer was a second-best stopgap measure. But they didn’t know each other well enough to make such a major decision. And they were already running out of time.

He’d have to let this woman go.

Immediately, rage filled him, along with determination. No. No way. He wasn’t going to give up that easily on something so precious and promising.

A few couples got up to leave. Ames put his hand on Eva’s back to get her attention, loving the intimacy of touching her. “Ready to go?”

She turned to him, flushed, eyes sparkling brilliantly. “About three hours ago.”

He chuckled and kissed her. “I owe you. Let’s go home.”

“Okay.” She blinked sweetly. “Can we do naughty things to each other?”

“Oh, yes. Yes, we definitely can. Let’s go now.” Grabbing her hand, he stood and murmured polite words to the couples seated near them, then pulled Eva over to say good-night and thank-you to the Boyces before he touched base with a few important clients. Then he dragged her down toward Seventh Avenue to hail a taxi home.

A block from the restaurant, practically running to keep up with him, Eva tore off her fascinator and shook out her hair, letting the long waves shine under the streetlights.

“I feel so free!”

He laughed in delight, picked her up and swung her around. “You are the best and most fabulous woman in the world. I can’t begin to tell you how wonderful you were in there.”

Eva shrugged, clearly giddy with relief. “I just imitated Chris and Natalie and all those hot, perfect women you should be with.”

“I’m with the right woman, Eva.” He kissed her, not feeling playful anymore. “After tonight I’m more sure than ever.”