Ringing in Love by Peggy Bird Read Free Book Online Page B

memorize its texture. As he did, the back of his hand brushed her collarbone, making her shiver. Her skin tingled even in places he hadn’t touched. She swore even her hair reacted.
    After he’d tucked the lock of hair behind her ear, he lingered for a moment, drawing his fingers down the side of her face. “You dressed like this for lunch with me. Why would you make the effort if you didn’t want to be here?”
    Damn it. She was cornered. He’d figured out in no time what she’d refused to admit to herself until that morning as she got ready—she very much wanted to have lunch with him and had dressed carefully for it.
    “Well,” she began, not meeting his eyes. “I thought maybe we’d be going to some upscale place, so a dress seemed appropriate.”
    “Has anyone ever told you what a bad liar you are?”
    “Yes, sadly.” She sighed. “I wasn’t called St. Catherine in high school for no reason.”
    “Is being bad at lying the only reason?”
    “No. There were others.” She finished off the glass of wine. “But it takes more than a glass of bubbly and a drive to Jersey to find out what they were.”
    “I’ll look forward to figuring it out, then.” He topped off their glasses again and changed the subject.
    The drive to Brigantine went by quickly. In what seemed like only a few minutes, Dominic’s driver announced they’d reached their destination—Sergio’s.
    The Sergio in the name of the restaurant greeted them personally, fussing over Dominic like a close relative or a long-lost friend, seating them at a table with a view of the beach and the people enjoying the sun and surf. The lunch, as promised by Dominic, was delicious. After a green salad and a basket of crusty bread, they were served the best cioppino Catherine had ever had, accompanied by a glass of a crisp Soave.
    Sergio didn’t allow anyone else near them. He served the food, bused the table, even brought out a second linen napkin so Catherine could protect her dress from the spicy tomato sauce she might accidently splash on it.
    Dominic and Catherine spent almost two hours eating, talking, laughing. She was pleasantly surprised by how much she enjoyed his company and how easily the conversation between them flowed. Each found out where the other had gone to school—Yale for Dominic, Penn State for Catherine—and what their families had been like when they grew up—loud, noisy, and full of love in both cases. They had both spent time at the Jersey Shore when they were kids, she in Wildwood, he on Long Beach Island. There was no discussion of business.
    But it was when Dominic excused himself to take a phone call that Catherine learned the most interesting thing about him from Sergio.
    While Dominic picked up a take-out order for his driver, Jack brought the Escalade to the front door of the restaurant where Catherine joined him. She hopped in the back seat and took the opportunity to text Melody, asking what was going on at the office. The immediate return message said nothing required her to hurry back.
    “So,” Dominic said, as he joined her in the back of the SUV, “did Melody reassure you about how things were going?”
    “How did you know? And they’re fine. I assume when you talked to whoever called you, you found out the same about your office.”
    “It was Edie with a question that could have waited until I got back, but yes, everything’s good there, too.”
    Curious about the woman she’d seen many times now without ever feeling any warmth from her, Catherine asked, “Have you and Edie worked together long?”
    “Ten, twelve years. She worked her way up from copywriter to creative director.”
    She hesitated about asking the question she had, even if the answer might solve the mystery of Edie’s attitude toward her. But she decided what the hell, and asked anyway. “Have you ever dated her?”
    “Why would you ask that?” He looked genuinely perplexed at her question.
    “She seems very possessive of you.