The Weight of Words (The WORDS Series) (13 page)

“Have you dined with us before?” he asked.

“No, this is our first time here,” I said, smiling at Matt.

“Well, allow me to be the first to welcome you. I hope you enjoy your evening. My name is Geoffrey, should you need anything.”

“Thank you, Geoffrey,” Matt said in a vaguely pretentious voice.

“You’re welcome, sir. Enjoy your evening.”

I smothered a laugh.

“Sorry, that was a little over the top. I couldn’t help myself,” Matt admitted as he scanned our surroundings. “So this is how the other half lives.”

“I know. It’s fucking incredible.”

“Aubs, I’m pretty sure the other half doesn’t drop F-bombs at the dinner table in a swanky restaurant.”

“Then I’m not sure I want to be one of the other half. They sound pretty fucking boring.”

Matt chuckled. We were interrupted by a different man in a dark suit who approached the table with several menus.

“Good evening. I’m Raymond and I’ll be taking care of you while you are with us tonight. Here are your menus, and I’ll leave the wine list here. The sommelier is on site should you have any questions. Now, would you care for a drink from the bar while you are perusing the menu?” he asked, looking back and forth between us.

I hesitated, wondering if I should play it safe, but decided to live a little.

“I’ll have a vodka and soda, with lime and lemon please,” I said.

“I’ll have a Keith’s,” Matt said.

“Very good,” Raymond said, taking a moment to lean over the table to light the floating votive candle before retreating to the bar to place our orders. A few moments later, he returned with our drinks before moving to a nearby table to refill their water glasses.

“Well, cheers.” Matt lifted his glass. “Happy Valentine’s Day. I’m glad you came with me tonight.”

“Thanks, Matt. Me too.” I gestured around the room. “I never dreamed I get a chance to eat here. I’m glad I’m sharing this with you.”

He looked at me warmly, and I tried to take in his features objectively. How would he look to a woman meeting him for the first time? Sparkling eyes, awesome skin, dark wavy hair, and a gorgeous smile. His body was muscular too, which wasn’t necessarily my thing; I preferred my men tall and lean, but Matt was certainly—what had Julie called him?—a hunk of burning love? I smiled and shook my head as I thought of Julie working the room on Thursday night.

“What are you grinning about?” Matt asked.

“Oh, just remembering Julie’s antics the other night. She’s such a hoot,” I said.

“It’s cool you two hooked up again, especially now that Joanna’s pretty much moved in with Stephen. You need someone to talk to. I do my best with the girl-talk, but I’m not so good with the painting nails and braids.”

“Maybe you need some practice. You can do my toes tomorrow,” I said with a smile.

“Wow, that sounds like a blast,” he deadpanned.

I handed him a menu, my tummy rumbling. “We should figure out what we’re going to eat.”

We scanned our menus. The prices were outrageous.

“Sweet Jesus.” Matt whistled between his teeth, looking up over his menu, a dazed expression on his face.

“I know! Expensive, huh?”

“No, it’s not that. Check it out, heading to that table on the other side of the room by the windows. That is one fine-looking woman.”

I looked into the strip of mirrors along the wall over Matt’s shoulder where I could see the tables on the other side of the restaurant.
Handy way to spy on people
.

I had to agree with him. She was gorgeous. Tall and curvy in all the right places, her ebony hair cascaded down her back in waves. Her dress was stunning—all black and incredibly close fitting with a slit up one leg that reached dangerously high up her thigh. She was the kind of woman the term “femme fatale” had been invented for. Geoffrey pulled her chair out for her, and then proceeded to help her with her napkin. They were smiling and chatting.
Probably a socialite who dines here often
. I looked back at Matt.

“Easy there, cowboy. Put your tongue back in your mouth.”

She was sitting facing us, and I could easily imagine him getting caught ogling.

“Shit, sorry, Aubs, I’ve just never seen…”

He trailed off, still gazing at her in admiration. I looked down at my menu.

“Well, this is romantic,” I said.

“Sorry.” Matt cleared his throat. “You’re right. My bad. Where were we?”

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’m checking out these appetizers. They look phenomenal.”

“The entrées look impressive too.” Matt flipped back and forth between the pages.

“Hmm, maybe I’ll have an entrée and dessert. They have crème brulée,” I said, my mouth watering. I snapped my menu closed. “Okay, I know what I’m having.”

“Yep, me too,” Matt said. “Gotta do the prime rib.”

He flipped his menu shut, and I looked around for Raymond, hoping to catch his eye. It was in that precise moment that the earth, which had previously been spinning quite nicely on its axis, came to a screeching halt.

Daniel.

He was here.

He was walking toward a table on the opposite side of the room.

The raven-haired beauty was standing up, throwing her arms around him and hugging him.

He was kissing her on both cheeks.

He was holding her chair out for her.

They were sitting down at the table.

Together.

Together
together.

My heart fell into the pit of my stomach as I came to a swift and painful realization: This woman, this other-worldly beauty who’d just sent Matt into paroxysms of desire
—this
was Daniel’s “love.”

His Valentine’s date.

Penny.

Chapter 11

The Green-Eyed Monster

O, beware, my lord, of jealousy;
It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock
The meat it feeds on…
(
Othello,
Act III, Scene 3)

B
ILE
R
OSE
I
N
M
Y
T
HROAT
and my stomach knotted with jealously. I wanted to stand up and throw a bread roll at Penny’s head. This was not a reasonable option. Doing so would likely put a teensy damper on our lovely dinner. And so I sat, seething in quiet desperation until Matt’s insistent voice interrupted my vitriolic inner monologue.

“Aubrey? Yes or no? Hello?” He snapped his fingers in front of my eyes.

“Huh?”

Numbness was spreading across my face.

“Wine. Did you want to get a bottle of wine? There’s a Pinot Gris called Burning Owl they’re recommending here on the wine list. It’s from B.C., so it’s gotta be good,” he said with a superior grin. “A little expensive, but I think that’s to be expected tonight.”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” I said. “Whatever you want is fine with me.”

It took supreme effort to maintain eye contact with Matt.

“Okay,” he said hesitantly. “That was easy.”

I picked up my drink and knocked back what was left in the glass. The vodka burned my throat, soothing me as its warmth spread through my chest. When Raymond reappeared, Matt quickly ordered the prime rib and I requested the Ahi tuna, suddenly feeling as if I might be incapable of chewing and swallowing meat. My throat constricted and my mouth felt dry. I took several large gulps of water while Matt took care of ordering the wine.

“Hey, Aubs, are you okay? You’re a little pale. Are you feeling sick again?”

My eyes flickered over his shoulder briefly to look in the mirror. All I could see was the back of Daniel’s head.

Move along, Aubrey, nothing to see here
.

“Actually, I
am
feeling a little odd. I’m gonna head to the washroom for a minute, okay?”

I stood up, dropping my napkin on the table. Matt looked up at me worriedly.

“Do you want me to grab a waitress to go in with you?” he asked.

“No, it’s okay, Matt. I need to splash some water on my face, that’s all,” I assured him.

And pierce that bitch’s eyeball with the heel of my stiletto. No worries. All in a day’s work.

I hurried off to the washroom, feeling Matt’s eyes following me. Safely away from his scrutiny, I sat on the leather sofa in the outer room which adjoined the washroom area, breathing deeply through my nose. Once the pounding of my heart had settled, I made my way to the sinks, gritting my teeth as I ran my hands under the cold water.

I needed to pull myself together. Really, what was the big deal? I’d known since the first day I’d met him that Daniel had a girlfriend. Nevertheless, now that I’d seen her for myself in all her stunning, voluptuous glory, the reality of his unavailability was crushing. I could
not
compete with
that
.

I sighed and leaned against the counter, enjoying the solitude. The peace and quiet was not to last, however. Someone with a lively voice burst through the door, interrupting my tranquil moment. I turned to look at the person who was talking so animatedly, and there in front of me was the woman who was single-handedly dashing my hopes.
Penny
. She was talking into a cell phone in a strong—and might I reluctantly add, very charming—English accent. She dropped onto the sofa I’d vacated.

“No, that’s okay. I left Daniel at the table,” she said to the person on the other end of the line. “I’m in the loo now, which is bigger than my mum and dad’s front room at home, by the way.” She ran her hand over the soft leather of the sofa as she listened. “What’s that? Oh, absolutely, it’s been hard. He’s so busy, working all the time. He’s knackered constantly…Oh, I know, it’ll all be over soon. Once we’re married, he said he’ll try to cut back. Can you believe in six months I’ll be Mrs. Penny Grant? I’m so bloody excited I can barely stand it.”

Married?
They were to be married in six months? She wasn’t his girlfriend—she was his
fiancée!
I looked grimly into the mirror, my heart shriveling in my chest. Could it get any worse?

I weighed my options.

Shoe to the eyeball?

If I did it quickly, I could make a speedy exit, grab Matt, and jump in a cab. No one would be the wiser. I was being ridiculous, of course, but it was tempting. Penny was winding up her conversation, and I splashed around in the sink, trying to cover up my eavesdropping.

“Anyway, this is costing you a fortune. I should ring off,” she said. “Give everyone my love, won’t you? I’ll drop you an email next week. Yes, of course I will…Cheers, Ronnie. Bye now.”

She rose and joined me at the sinks, opening her purse. She removed a bottle of expensive perfume and sprayed herself liberally. I tried to busy myself with my purse too, rooting around for my lip gloss, but before I could apply any, her perfume went right up my nose. I sneezed several times.

“Oh, Jesus, sorry. That was bloody rude of me. Are you allergic?” she asked.

Don’t be nice to me, you bitch
.
I’m trying to hate you.

“No, I’m not allergic. Not used to such
strong
perfume, I guess.”

“Oh, I know. My fiancé bought this for me.” She gestured to the bottle. “I think he reckoned I’d love it because it’s so expensive. I wear it for him more than for myself,” she said.

My eye was drawn to the giant diamond on her hand. That, too, looked to be expensive.

God, don’t look, Aubrey. And while you’re at it, ignore her fabulous boobs. Seriously. You don’t want to look.

I stared at her blankly, at a loss for what to say and incapable of maintaining the charade a moment longer. She looked back at me uncomfortably.

“Well, listen to me rabbiting on at you,” she said. “Sorry about that. I’m new in town, and don’t have many girls to chat with. I tend to latch on to any friendly face I see these days. Sad, really.”

Friendly face? Was she on crack?

I ignored her apology. “If you’ll excuse me, I should get back to my date.”

“Of course, love, don’t let me keep you.” She turned back to the mirror to reapply her lipstick. As I pulled the door open she called after me, “Oh, and happy Valentine’s Day!”

Oh, you too, Penny. Have fun steamrolling my heart, you bitch!

I zipped up my clutch as I walked through the restaurant. Matt was scrolling through messages on his phone. When I reached the table, he put the phone away and stood up to hold the chair out for me.

“I was starting to get worried. You were in there for ages.”