Lei Me Down by Selena Cooper Read Free Book Online Page B

magnificent.”
    Within minutes, we were both asleep.
     
    I was awakened by a bell…a shrill ringing bell. I frowned, rolled over, and threw my leg across Luke’s hip. Whatever that noise was, it would quit in a minute…right?
    Wrong.
    Even as I tried to nestle against Luke’s chest and go back to sleep, the incessant ringing of the bell drove me up the wall.
    Luke opened his eyes. “What is that?”
    “Who cares? Just make it stop.”
    On the third ring, it dawned on us both that what we were hearing was the phone in our room. It was such a foreign concept for someone to be ringing our hotel phone rather than calling our cell phones that it actually took our groggy brains a few minutes before it clicked.
    “The phone,” Luke said. “I’ll get it.”
    I moved my leg, and Luke crawled on his elbows like a soldier navigating enemy territory to the other side of the bed. He snatched the receiver from its cradle.
    “Yeah,” he answered. “No…no bother at all. Of course, we’d love to have dinner with you, Mr. De Marco. Sure…. See you then.”
    He hung up the phone, and I inched up the bed to snuggle back into his arms.
    “How long do we have before we meet the De Marcos?” I asked.
    “We need to be ready in about forty-five minutes,” he said. “I can call him back and cancel if you’re not up to it.”
    “No. I’m fine. I just didn’t want to get out of your arms yet.”
    Luke kissed the top of my head. “Let’s stay here for twenty minutes and then we’ll get ready.”
    “Where are we meeting?”
    “The restaurant downstairs,” he said.
     

Chapter Eight
     
     
    Believe it or not, I was able to get ready to go down to dinner in fifteen minutes. I quickly pulled my hair up into a French twist, brushed on a little bronzer and some pink lipstick, and pulled on a white sundress. Luke wore dark slacks and a white shirt open at the throat. He was, of course, gorgeous. Looking at him standing at the vanity slipping on his watch, I could hardly wait until we got back to the room.
    When we got to the dining room, we saw Mr. De Marco right away. He stood and waved us over. He was with a diminutive but elegant woman whom I recognized from the wedding photo as his wife.
    “Thank you for joining us, Mr. and Mrs. Fontaine,” said Mr. De Marco.
    “Please call us Luke and Brandy,” Luke said as we took our seats.
    “Very well. I’d like you both to meet my wife Patricia. Patricia, these are the fabulous people I spoke with you about.”
    Patricia smiled. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Jim told me how kind the two of you were to him this morning.”
    “We’re sorry your daughter’s—and your—time of joy has turned into such a tragedy,” I said. “Is there anything at all we can do?”
    “Just dine with us,” said Mr. De Marco. “We’re glad that at least some good—making two new friends—has come out of all this.”
    A waitress came over to take our orders. My three companions ordered fish, but I ordered spinach ravioli. We all chose a glass of pinot grigio. The waitress brought out our wine and told us that she’d put our food orders in.
    After she left, Luke decided it was time to learn more about the De Marcos.
    “Tell me, Jim, where are you and Patricia from?” he asked.
    “We live in Vermont,” said Jim. “We own a chain of restaurants across Vermont and New Hampshire called, unimaginatively enough, De Marcos.”
    “What do you do?” Patricia asked.
    “I’m a journalist,” I said. “Luke is an entrepreneur like you guys.”
    “Yep. I run Fontaine Enterprises.” Luke grinned. “Also not a very imaginative name. But it gets the job done.”
    Jim laughed. “That’s what I say. Keep it simple and without gimmicks. Let the products speak for themselves.”
    A waiter hurried out with a basket of rolls and placed them on our table. “Connie got held up and asked me to bring these out. Your food will be out in a few minutes.”
    “Thank you,” said Luke.
    I noticed the