Page 114 of Look on the Bright Side

Lorenzo didn’t ask for more details, and she didn’t offer any.

“He also drove me back from Sofia’s engagement party when my car got towed. I texted you about that, by the way. My brother had to drive me into Boston so I could get it back from car jail. It would’ve been nice if you’d helped me.”

“Why would I spend half a day at a tow lot when I’m a world-class surgeon with a very full schedule? Why, Dr.Smith?”

“For one, it only took half an hour, and two, I was towed because I came into town to be your date. Anyway, back to your handsome, lovely, helpful brother…he’s very…nice.”

Lorenzo cocked his head to one side, not looking at her. “Has he made a play for you?”

Her cheeks grew hot. She’d made the first play, hadn’t she? After he’d spent the afternoon being generally wonderful, holding her and letting her cry all over him. But that hadn’t been much of a kiss.

At the picnic, though…different story.

“He kissed you, then?” Lorenzo asked.

Oh, he absolutely kissed me, Satan. Her mouth made a few squeaky noises before forming words. “Well, I…yeah. It was not…unwelcome.” She tapped her finger against the side of the glass.

“I see.” He drank some water, expression neutral. “Let me give you a little information that might put that in context. My brother was dating a woman a little while back. A model named Brie, like the cheese.”

“I know. He told me.”

“Anyway, the minute I met her—”

“He’s told me this story, by the way.”

Lorenzo gave her an irritated look. “Please curb the interruptions and work on your listening skills, Dr.Smith. I doubt he’s told you all of it. As I was saying, the minute I met this Brie person, I could tell Dante was in trouble. He didn’t see her for her true self. She was…ambitious.”

“Oh no, an ambitious woman, how dreadful, did the world stop spinning?” She brazenly scratched her nose with her middle finger.

“Ambitious in that she wanted to marry him.”

“I think we humans call that love.”

“Oh, she didn’t love him. It was obvious.”

She was curious against her will. Not her business, and yet impossible not to want to hear more. “How so?”

“Well, at first, she hung herself all over him, and Dante, the poor idiot, gobbled it up. But it was for show. It made us all very uncomfortable, especially my grandmother, who doesn’t approve of public displays of affection.”

“So I’ve learned. At Joy’s picnic, she told me I’d spoil my niece by kissing her.”

“Anyway,” he said pointedly. “I took Dante aside, explained my concerns—”

“What did you say?” Lark asked. She was kind of enjoying interrupting him, since it so clearly irked him.

“I said exactly what I thought. I didn’t like her and thought she was fake and shallow. He told me to get over it, because he was planning to propose.” Lorenzo huffed. “She was very attractive, I’ll give him that. A swimsuit model.”

The little flash of jealousy surprised Lark. When was the last time she’d done a sit-up, after all? Tenth grade? “Go on.”

“I knew she’d do wrong by him. She was greedy, and a woman like that would not have been satisfied as a firefighter’s wife.”

“God, you are so arrogant.”

“Dr.Smith, give me some credit. She looked at this house with dollar signs in her eyes. I think she assumed there was family money, since my parents’ home is also quite nice. Because I bought it for them.”

“Yes, you’ve told me at least seven times. So what happened?”

Lorenzo shifted slightly, and his gaze went to just over her head. He didn’t answer the question.

---