Declan by Kate Allenton Read Free Book Online

her friend’s cheeks.
    “I’ll be right there.” She slid the phone into her pocket. “They ruined my dress.”
    Olivia gasped. “We should leave.”
    Sky rested her hand on Olivia’s. “The tasting, they’ve already prepared everything. Do you mind staying? I’ve already tasted the food and picked it out. This is just the final approval. Do you mind?”
    “Not at all. Go…take care of the dress.”
    “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
    Olivia walked Skylar to the parking lot before heading inside LaAmour. The normally quiet restaurant was buzzing with conversation and filled with nothing but men. She stood frozen just inside the door, her eyes scanning for anyone she knew. Skylar’s father stepped out of the backroom and greeted her.
    “Where’s Skylar?”
    “Something happened to her dress. So I’m stuck handling the food.”
    He nodded and showed her to a table in the bar area. “The caterers are already here preparing in the back.”
    “Who are all these people? You aren’t normally open for lunch.”
    Her dad glanced behind him and grinned. “They’re all here for Flynn’s corporate team-building conference.”
    “His what?”
    “Flynn organizes most of our parties and corporate conferences, specializing in team building. These guys are his group.” He turned back to her. “Lunch was part of the package deal. Had I known he’d scheduled football players with healthy appetites for a two-week stint, I would have had him double the cost. Let me tell the caterers in the back that you’re here, and they’ll start bringing out the food and the champagne.”
    “Thanks.” She placed her napkin on her lap and scanned the crowd of men as they talked and carried on. Several were looking her way. One specifically stood out. She’d seen his face, knew his name from watching football on Sundays with Sky’s brothers. “Trent Stewart.”
    He held her gaze. A smile slipped onto his lips, and he gave her a slight nod. She felt the blood rushing to her cheeks and glanced away as the waiter headed in her direction with the first plate. He laid it in front of her and lifted the lid. Another server followed behind him with a bottle of champagne sitting in a bucket of ice.
    “I hope you’re hungry. There is a feast worthy of any palate in the kitchen.”
    “Perfect. Thank you.” Olivia was glad she’d skipped the muffins earlier that Declan had brought. If she’d eaten them, there was no way she could eat the amount of food that she knew was coming next.
    Olivia rose, grabbed the champagne bottle, and tore off the wrapper from around the cork. She tried to pry it free, worried that the cork would shoot across the room if she pressed too hard. The last think Sky’s folks needed was a negligence lawsuit filed because she’d knocked a player in the head.
      “Let me,” a smooth voice said from behind her. His large hands slid on top of hers, taking the bottle from her hand. She turned to find Trent standing behind her, a smile curving his mouth.
    “Thank you.”
    He worked his magic on the cork without sending anyone to the hospital and poured her a glass. “Why are you eating alone?”
    His question caught her off guard. “I’m doing the food tasting for a wedding reception.”
    “A wedding reception. Now that makes perfect sense. I was wondering why such a beautiful woman was eating alone. When is your big day, and where’s the lucky man? Shouldn’t he be helping you?”
    Heat crept up into Olivia’s cheeks. “Oh no. This isn’t my wedding. It’s for my best friend, actually. She’s getting married next weekend. She was here but had to leave. Some type of dress emergency.”
    “Oh yes, I hear dress emergencies can be brutal.”
    Olivia smiled and retook her seat. “So, do you have first-hand knowledge?”
    “Is that your way of asking me if I’m single?” he teased and set the champagne bottle in the ice bucket.
    Olivia’s mouth parted. “No, no, I didn’t mean it like