I rather liked him smiling at me, too. I took a sip of my drink, feeling a happy burn deep down in the pit of my stomach. “Enough about Bastian for now. Tell me about this Leo person.” I waggled my eyebrows at her, ready to find out more about her secret crush.
Charlotte's face paled and her eyes went wide as she looked into the bar behind me.
“Are you okay?” I set my drink down, thinking I had made a serious error. I wanted her to be my friend. “You don't have to talk about him if you don't want to.”
“No, no...” she whispered, shaking her head but staring past me. “He's here.”
“What?” I turned to see an attractive man in nice khaki's and a polo shirt walking up to the bar and greeting Elijah. He was tall, but well built with untamed hair and big eyes. He was definitely a looker.
“Oh, he's cute,” I murmured appreciatively.
“He's mine,” Charlotte growled. As soon as she said the words, her eyes went wider and she clapped two hands over her mouth.
“Relax, tiger.” I giggled, a little loopy from the alcohol in my drink. “I'm still gun shy and he's not my type.”
Charlotte dropped her hands. “Oh, god. He's coming this way...”
I giggled again. For being a spitfire billionaire's assistant who seemed like she could handle anything, a cute guy walking in her direction sure had her vexed.
“Hello ladies,” said the man, coming up to our table. Charlotte looked like she might throw up. “May I join you? I don't want to intrude, but it's a busy night at the bar.”
I looked around to see that every table had a patron. Considering how good my drink was, I wasn't surprised.
“You're not intruding at all,” I replied smoothly. Charlotte's eyes were about ready to pop out of their sockets. “Please join us.”
I heard a metallic ping and Charlotte's lips thinned. I tried not to giggle, but I realized she had meant to kick me and had kicked the table instead. Served her right.
“Are you okay, Charlotte?” Leo asked, pulling out a chair and siting down.
“Fine,” she replied, her voice just a little too squeaky as she glared daggers in my direction. “I just bit my tongue.”
“I'm Ava, by the way,” I said, holding out my hand across the table and smiling. “You must be Leo.”
He stood to shake my hand, like a gentleman, and I immediately liked him even more. “Ava Fairchild? The woman who is running the appraisal at the mansion?”
“That's me.” I smiled as he sat back down. “I'm glad to finally meet you, Leo. Charlotte has only nice things to say about you.”
The kick from Charlotte connected this time, her heel digging into my shin. I managed to keep a grim smile as I glared at her. Those heels were truly wicked. She glared right back as we faced off in a silent battle of eyes.
“Have you eaten?” I asked, tearing my eyes away from Charlotte. “The special here is amazing.”
“I have actually, but thank you,” he replied politely, apparently oblivious to the kicks Charlotte was sending me under the table.
“What are you doing here?” Charlotte's voice came out squeaky and incredibly high. I was surprised Leo heard her at all. If he didn't know that she had the world's biggest crush on him, then he had to be the most oblivious man on the planet.
“I was in the neighborhood,” he replied nonchalantly. “And since I was coming out for the auction anyway, I thought I might come a few days early.”
“You flew out to a remote Caribbean island two weeks early because it was in the neighborhood? I want your job.” Damn, those drinks were stronger than I realized.
Leo looked over at me in surprise.
“Sorry.” I held up my empty drink. “Watch out, these things are strong.”
“I think I actually need another,” Charlotte said quickly. She raised her hand and caught the waiter's attention, signaling for another round.
Leo glanced back and forth between the two of us, obviously evaluating the sanity of staying with us. I couldn't blame him. We both looked a little crazy.
“That and with the new app launch, I figured it would be one less conference call with Bastian,” he explained, making the trip sound a little more logical. “Gabe is ready to murder both of us because we keep messing up the video feeds.”