Page 45 of Love In The Spotlight

“I can do that,” he said. He looked at his watch and knew that they had twenty minutes before Nelson showed up and they got down to business. “How was your holiday with your family? Did you all manage to get together this time?”

She smiled at him and her eyes just lit up. “We did. And I’ll let you know before you read it in the news or hear it in the news—West and Abby got engaged. Actually, they’ve been engaged and we’ve kept it under wraps until West was ready to make the announcement himself.”

“I saw the picture a few days ago in the news,” he said.

“That pushed the timeline up a bit more, but it will be out soon. I trust you to not say a word.”

He laughed. “Considering the world doesn’t know I have an almost two-year-old daughter, you could say I’m good at secrets.”

14

MORE RELAXED ABOUT EVERYTHING

Laken took a deep breath and walked into the restaurant where she was meeting Jamie. They were in New Jersey, and though it was out of her way to come this far, it would be less congested than going downtown.

She was just going to tell the hostess she was meeting someone when she turned and felt a tap on her shoulder.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hi,” she said.

“Can I have my normal table?” he asked the hostess.

“This way,” the older woman said.

They took their seats in the back. They were still part of the restaurant, but only two tables would be able to see them and he sat with his back to them.

“You come here often?” she asked.

“I have for years. They know me and let me sit in the back away from people.”

“West owns a few restaurants, and when he goes out, he has a private room most times. Braylon has used it too with Lily.”

“Have you?” he asked.

“No,” she said. “I’m not as well known or recognizable and I like it that way.”

In the business world people knew who she was, but in everyday life she could go about doing her own thing and was happy enough that way.

A server came over and got their drink and lunch orders at the same time. She was trying not to rush but didn’t have as much time as she’d thought she would.

Or maybe she hadn’t planned it well thinking he’d want to go this far out.

She should have considered it but didn’t want to cancel either.

She knew she came off as skittish when he wanted to talk on Friday and even had some notes on her computer in front of her.

She couldn’t remember the last time she had to do that when meeting with someone. Least of all a guy.

But once that kiss was over, she was so much more relaxed about everything.

“You get used to it after a while,” he said.

“Does it bother you?” she asked.

“Nah. Not really. As I said, you get used to it. I think around here, most people respect the fact that I want to eat a meal in peace.”

“What about after?” she asked.

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