Page 20 of Dreaming of You

"It's not over, but I was done."

"What happened to your date?"

"You might want to get your pizza before it burns."

"Fine, come in," she said, leaving him to enter, as she moved into the kitchen and took out her pizza, setting it on the stovetop to cool.

Barrett followed her into the small kitchen. "Ah, it is big enough to share," he said with a smile that warmed his features and made her heart beat a little faster.

She couldn't argue with that. "Fine. We can share." She pulled out her pizza cutter. "You can slice. I'll get the plates."

"Don't hurt your hand."

"Thankfully, it's my left hand."

She put the plates on the counter and opened the refrigerator. "I have orange juice, milk, and sparkling water."

"I'll take the water," he said, as he placed a couple of slices of pizza on each plate, then took them over to the table, which was laden with wedding supplies. "What is all this?"

"I'm supposed to be making wedding favors tonight. You can just push them to one side."

"You really take your work home with you, don't you?"

"There's always a lot to do."

She set a large bottle of water on the table. "If you don't mind opening this, I'll get some glasses."

After putting the glasses down, she took a seat across from him. "I hope you don't get tomato sauce on that tuxedo."

"I think I can manage, but it can always be cleaned."

"So, you own it."

"I prefer to own over renting."

"Nice if you can afford it," she commented, taking a bite of her pizza.

"This is good," Barrett said, devouring his first piece in a few bites.

"You really were hungry. Don't they feed you at the Winter Ball?"

"There were trays going by, but I'm not a fan of weird finger food and people kept wanting to talk to me," he complained.

"Poor you. Too much fancy food and too many people who like you. Although, why you're popular is a mystery to me," she said dryly.

He smiled. "We haven't gotten off to a good start."

"Which is your fault," she pointed out.

"Maybe we can reset. Since we're going to be work neighbors, it would be easier if we got along."

"I suppose. What happened to your beautiful date?"

"She's still at the party, networking to her heart's delight."

"Networking? That doesn't sound very romantic."

"Tonight's date wasn't about romance. Elaine is one of my mother's setups. She wants me to get married again, and she keeps throwing eligible women my way. However, Elaine was not at all interested in me, especially when she realized I have no intention of ever getting married again."

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