Page 34 of Get Lost

Her frown deepened. “That’s a shame. I would have loved to meet your friend.”

Pulling the chair out to help his mother, Alex considered Alyson’s words. Was there an implication there, some sort of expectation? Did she think there was anything more to this than a friendly—professional—lunch between colleagues? He’d hired her to find him a commercial restaurant building, and now she had. As far as he was concerned, that was all that mattered between them, and as long as this offer went through, that’s all that would ever matter between them.

Alex purposely strode past Kelsey’s table on his way out the door, his mother on his left arm, and Alyson trailing closely behind. He paused as he reached Kelsey and her friends.

As if she could feel him, Kelsey looked up over her shoulder at him. “Arroyo.”

“Chelsea.”

Her lip twitched, and a hint of that angry spark lit up her dark brown eyes, then Alyson slid her hand around his bicep and Kelsey’s eyes tightened around the edges, but the motion was gone almost as swiftly as it appeared.

Kelsey schooled her face into a pleasant smile suitable for a stranger. “It was a pleasure to meet you,” she said to Alyson, then she turned to his mom and offered a genuine smile. The one that deepened those soft lines around her eyes. “It was great to see you, Mrs. Arroyo.”

“Oh, Kelsey, you’ve known me most of your life. Call me Rebecca.” She patted Kelsey’s arm, then started on her way back inside the restaurant. “Come on, Alyson,” she called over her shoulder.

But Alyson didn’t budge.

Kelsey met Alex’s gaze, a challenge in her eyes.

“Well, good luck with your little catering thing,” Alyson said.

Alex tensed. His mother must have told Alyson about Kelsey’s Kreations, which was far from alittle catering thing. They were less than a week out from the Barbados trip, and Kelsey was about to pull off a wedding that must be costing Drew hundreds of thousands of dollars. There was nothinglittleabout Kelsey’s event business.

Turning toward his realtor, Alex said, “Actually, Alyson, there’s nothing little about—”

“These are compliments of the chef,” the server said as she appeared in exactly the wrong moment. She placed three dishes on the table. “Chef Mikal is trying out a new menu, and a close friend of his suggested this table might appreciate sampling these new items.”

As the server explained what each dish was, Alyson’s hand tightened on Alex’s arm, but he pulled his arm free, focusing on Kelsey as he did so.

Her eyes narrowed as she titled her head. “Did you do this?” she mouthed.

Smirking, Alex gave her a wink that he knew would piss her off. “Enjoy your meal, Sutton.”

“Don’t mind if I do, Arroyo.”

With that, he turned away from them, but before he did, he caught the bright smile Kelsey gave Alyson. He could almosthearthe sarcasm in that simple movement. Alex smiled to himself. There really was just something about that girl.

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