“Matt?” Her voice pulled him from his thoughts. “Is something wrong?”
He shook his head. “No. It’s just that I’m frustrated in my job right at the moment.” He took a deep breath and spent the next fifteen minutes filling her in on the way Bill Cummins and several members of the Jefferson County Council had been using zoning and safety regulations to help GB Ventures acquire land at rock-bottom prices.
When he came to the end of his explanation, he shook his head. “Of course, with all this research into the County Council, I seem to have forgotten that my client is the Dogwood Estates Tenants Association. The truth is, none of the dirt I’ve dug up on the county is going to help them. I feel so utterly useless when I think about Leslie and Sid and all the rest of the tenants.”
“Oh my God. You need to do something with this information about Bill Cummins. He’s running for reelection. This stuff could be dynamite.”
“Or it could give him a boost,” Matt said. “David pointed out yesterday that a lot of people are happy to see eyesores like Dogwood Estates disappear.”
“You have to give this information to Linda Petersen.”
“Willow’s mother?”
Courtney nodded. “Linda and Leslie are great friends, so she’s already involved in the Dogwood Estates issue. Sid told me that Linda and Leslie are planning some kind of protest for later this week. They were going to picket GB Ventures headquarters in Arlington, but now I’m thinking maybe they should picket city hall. They could use this stuff, Matt. And you know what? I’ll bet Linda has friends at the Winchester Daily who would love to have your research. The Daily has never liked Bill Cummins’s pro-growth-at-any-cost agenda.”
Her shining eyes reflected an image that had nothing to do with scorn or disappointment or mistrust. She believed in him. She believed in his cause.
He leaned across the counter and snagged her hand. “Courtney, I want to make something clear. Last night wasn’t a one-night stand. I’d like to see where this goes, okay? And I will be here precisely at six thirty to pick you up for a nice dinner date. Where would you like to go?”
The corner of her mouth ticked up. “Could we try the Red Fern Inn again?”
Chapter Sixteen
June was almost over, thank God. The last weekend was almost upon them with a flurry of weddings that kept Courtney crazy-busy with half a dozen demanding bridezillas. Her days were long and hard, but her nights were romantic and steamy and incredibly erotic.
Sleeping with Matt would have been enough. The man knew how to give and take pleasure. But Matt gave her so much more than that. He took her to dinner at the Red Fern Inn on Tuesday night and behaved like the perfect gentleman. He treated her to a candlelight dinner at his place on Wednesday night featuring linguine and clam sauce that he made himself. And on Thursday, he blew her mind by sending a bouquet of cupcakes, exquisitely decorated to look like small nosegays of violets.
“Oh my God,” Amy exclaimed when the deliveryman put them on the corner of Courtney’s desk. “Those are amazing. Are they from that new bakery in Winchester?”
Courtney nodded, although she wasn’t entirely sure. She’d mentioned the bakery to Matt last night when she’d been talking about a bride who wanted cupcake centerpieces. Good thing she intercepted the small white card that came with them before Amy got to it. Matt never failed to impress when it came to cards. She recognized his handwriting now. And of course there was a poem.
A violet by a mossy stone
Half-hidden from the eye!
—Fair as a star, when only one
Is shining in the sky.
~Wordsworth
Looking forward to seeing you shine for me tonight.
“Holy crap. I’ve never seen you blush like that, girl. What’s in that card?”
She almost told the truth. But some instinct for self-preservation stopped her. Matt was more than a Hook-up Artist, but was he Mr. Right? She wanted to believe that she’d found true love, but who could make a decision like that based on less than a week of mind-blowing sex, a couple of nice dinners, and a bouquet of cupcakes?
There were so many ways this could go wrong. And when it did, she’d probably fall apart. And if she told her friends, they would all tell her she was stupid to have gotten involved with a Hook-up Artist like Matt. And then they’d tell her to grow up and settle. Or get used to living alone.
She didn’t want to settle, but by the same token, she wasn’t some naïve girl who could be swept away with fancy gifts and dinner at a nice restaurant. So she turned toward Amy and lied. “They’re from Bethany Carr.” Bethany was the bride who wanted cupcakes at every table.
“Oh.” Amy sounded so disappointed. “They’re kind of cute, but they aren’t as pretty as real flowers.”
“That’s only because you’re biased in favor of real flowers.”
Amy gave her the stink eye, and Courtney shut up. She also slipped the card into the pocket of the dress she was wearing. No way Amy would ever get her hands on that card. Not after she’d read Matt’s first card.
Willow proved far more difficult. She dropped by Courtney’s office late in the afternoon while Amy was consulting with a client, took one look at the cupcakes, and shut the door. She sat in the single side chair, her face sober.
“Those are cute, but I have a feeling you didn’t order them yourself. And if you tell me you’re sleeping with Matt, I’m going to wring your neck.”
“They’re from Bethany Carr. She wants us to use that new bakery. For her centerpieces.”
Willow gave her the evil eye. “Have I ever told you that you are a terrible liar? Amy told me all about them. About how you blushed when you read the card.”
Pleading the fifth would not work, so she remained silent.
“Oh, my
