She swallowed hard. Managed a nod. “Hello.”
She licked her bottom lip, refusing to make eye contact with Doug, and oh so subtly glanced to her right, her heart skipping a beat when she caught the handsome profile of a man of the appropriate age. Nut-brown hair, strong jaw, and a lovely, warm smile when he turned to introduce himself.
“Guess we’re stuck with each other for the night,” he said, and oh, those dark eyes positively twinkled as he extended a hand. “Jeremy Smith.”
She felt herself melt into the warmth of his skin. “Gabrielle Conway.”
She could have sworn she heard a snort from across the table, but she decided to ignore it. She had better things to focus on just now.
“And what do you do, Gabrielle?”
Oh, her name just rolled off his lips. Smooth and deep, she could get used to a voice like that.
“I own a flower shop here in town,” she said, feeling her spirits rise as they did every time she mentioned her business. “Sweet Stems?”
“Oh, now, don’t be humble, Gabby!” Doug’s voice seemed to boom across the table.
She narrowed her eyes at him, even though the smile never left her lips. Was he really going to taunt her, now, when she finally had an eligible man giving her a little attention? Last she checked, they weren’t in high school anymore, even if he was determined to act as if they were.
Ignoring her glare, he said to Jeremy. “Gabby did all the flowers for this wedding.”
Jeremy raised an eyebrow. “Really? This is very impressive. I’ve always marveled at anyone with a creative mind. It’s a talent I’m afraid I’ve never had.”
She resisted the urge to slant a glance at Doug, but she did lift her chin a notch. “Thank you,” she said warmly. “And what do you do?”
“Pediatric oncology,” he said flatly.
She managed not to gasp. Handsome, noble, and smart? Every box on that mental checklist was being ticked. This was turning out to be the perfect night—that was if Doug wasn’t continuing to watch their exchange as if he had a front-row seat to the latest Hollywood blockbuster.
The waiters came around with their first course—a summer salad made with locally grown tomatoes and herbs—but Gabby had more important things on her mind than food.
She had never seen this man before, and this was a wedding. She couldn’t rule out the possibility that he lived far away, nixing her hopes. With a silent prayer, she decided to confront the only obstacle that might eliminate the chances of this being the man of her dreams. Her soulmate. Her perfect match.
“I haven’t seen you around Blue Harbor before,” she said conversationally. When he met her eyes with a slow grin, she somehow managed not to bat her eyelashes. “Are you in town just for the wedding?”
Here it came. She almost couldn’t breathe, so great was her anticipation.
“The hospital is about two hours from here, but we have a weekend place in Pine Falls.”
Pine Falls was the next town over, but this didn’t bring any relief to Gabby. We? What exactly did he mean by that? With her last thread of hope, she wondered if he was referring to his parents—a family vacation home perhaps, but she knew she was grasping. She scanned his face, wondering what she had missed.
“I’m afraid my wife is on bed rest so she couldn’t make it tonight.”
Now there was a coughing sound from across the table, followed by wheezing. No doubt Doug was trying to smother his laughter.
“I was telling the table here before you arrived.” Jeremy smiled until his eyes crinkled. “We just found out we’re having twins.”
Twins. Somehow, she managed a thin smile and a grunt of congratulations before reaching for her wineglass and taking a long sip. Over the rim, she caught Doug’s grin flashing wickedly and narrowed her gaze. She could nearly hear a “told ya so” coming on. No doubt he’d find a way to slip it into a conversation before the night was through.
With a heavy heart, Gabby picked up her outermost fork and listlessly poked at her salad, hating the tears that had started to burn the back of her eyes and hoping that they would clear before she was forced to look up again. She positioned herself in her chair so she was slightly facing the boy instead, but he just gave her a hopeful look and then went all red in the face. Good grief. She sensed a shuffling beside her, a murmured conversation. Maybe the handsome doctor needed to take a call. She’d do almost anything for him to be gone when she looked up.
Finally, when she’d composed herself, she dared to check, startled to see that her wish had come true. Technically. Gone was Mr. Right and in his place was…Mr. Wrong.
“What are you doing here?” She glanced at Doug and then to his former place across the table, where the hot yet married man was already engaged in a conversation with the bride’s younger cousin about name ideas for his twins. Two boys. Imagine that.
“Saving you,” Doug said simply.
More like coming to gloat! She pinched her mouth together from saying that very thing, reminding herself that she was technically still the florist, the bride was a client, and she would be best to keep her temper under control.
Doug just sniffed as if nothing was amiss, averting eye contact as he placed a crusty sourdough roll on his plate and proffered the basket to her with an extremely wide grin that seemed close to eruption. “Bread?”
Her eyes blazed when she thought of the audacity, the nerve, the presumption! Thinking that she needed saving! “I…I…” She couldn’t even think, so great was her anger at the merriment in his eyes, at the way this entire evening was turning out. She’d dared to hope. Dared to believe. And now she was left sharing another Saturday night with Doug, who knew exactly which buttons to
