Page 37 of Miracles and Marriage
“Except I missed cake.”
She smiled. “Want a piece now?”
“Yes.”
Watching while he ate the cake, Zoe should have been delighted at the carefree glimpse she was getting of a man she thought was totally business oriented. Instead, she felt as if she were sitting on an edge of a cliff and could topple over with the slightest push.
When Cal stood by the table, he looked at her.
“What we need is a honeymoon,” he said.
“What?”
It was the last thing in the world she expected. And the last thing they needed. Was he crazy?
“We don’t know each other beyond work. If we’re to present a convincing front to your family and friends when we go public, I think we need to find out more about each other. I would never send in an agent if he or she hadn’t been briefed. I don’t feel briefed.”
It made sense. But the images that flared had nothing to do with sharing information. Honeymoons were more physical—like sharing a room and a bed, kisses. Her imagination went into overdrive.
“Write me up a bio,” she said, stalling, hoping he couldn’t guess her thoughts.
He shook his head.
“Too brief. We’ll spend a couple of days together this weekend. That’ll give us a good start.”
“I don’t know,” she said, hoping inspiration would come fast so she could get out of spending more time with Cal. Until she needed to.
It wasn’t as if she didn’t like being with him, but he made her nervous, self-conscious. Ever since that kiss.
“Consider it prepping for an assignment,” he said.
“I’m an analyst—I don’t go out on assignment.”
“Yet you’ve taken this one. And maybe we need to get the hurdle of the first time out of the way.”
Thursday flew by. Friday afternoon Cal called Zoe in her office. She’d seen him in passing at work. She half expected him to offer lunch or dinner, but according to Emily when Zoe asked about his schedule, Cal was inundated with meetings and small crises that required his attention.
When he called Friday, Zoe picked up, surprised to hear him if he was that busy.
“I’ll pick you up around six. Do you want to eat around in town or wait until we’re on the road?” he asked.
“You still want to go?”
They had decided to try the cottage again.
“Oh, yes, I most definitely want to go away with you,” he said very deliberately.
She rubbed her forehead, trying to think.
“Fine. I’ll be ready at six. And I’d like to eat at Katie’s Steak House. It’s about half way between here and Seagrass Point.”
“Sounds good. See you then.”
He hung up without another word.
By the time six o’clock arrived, Zoe had changed clothes twice and made a mess of her bedroom choosing and discarding clothes to take to the cottage. Each member of the family had a dresser at the cottage with assorted beach clothes to save packing and unpacking for short stays.
None of those outfits were quite what she wanted to wear around Cal. She refused to examine why this was important to her, but it was.
