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“He upset you. Holding in your feelings isn’t good.”
“No, it’s not,” she admitted. She glanced down at her apple juice. “He wants to get back together.”
Other than tightening his grip on the glass in his hand, Bruno didn’t allow himself to have any other outward reaction. “How do you feel about that?”
“I’m absolutely not interested in getting back together with him.”
He breathed easier.
She shrugged. “Every so often he tries to convince me that we should be raising Theo together. This time he tried to convince me by implying I’m going to spend the rest of my life alone.”
“I seriously doubt that.”
“His words were hard to hear and bothered me, that’s all.” She shrugged again and shot a wan smile at him. “He’s a great father, by the way, so I don’t want to sound as if he’s a monster. He’s taking Theo to Disney World in June. They’ll be gone for a week.”
“Oh really? When?”
“The second week in June. Theo’s grandparents live in Florida, and he’ll get to see them, and his cousins will be there.”
“The second week in June?” Bruno asked.
“Yes. Is the date important to you for some reason?”
An idea germinated in his mind. “I mentioned to you that I’m going to the James Beard Foundation’s award ceremony in L.A. It happens to be the second week of June too, which means I won’t be able to schedule any dates during that period.”
“No problem. We can work around your schedule until you come back.”
“You should come with me.”
“Where?”
“To the James Beard Awards in L.A.”
Her eyes widened. “I can’t do that.”
“Theo will be out of town with his father. Do you have anything better to do that weekend?”
“Just because I don’t have anything better to do doesn’t mean I should fly off to Los Angeles with you. First of all, I can’t afford the trip.”
“I’m inviting you, so of course, I will take care of the costs. All you have to do is show up. I’ll make sure you have the clothes and whatever else you need for the event. Your flight is covered because I’m chartering a plane. You don’t have to worry about a hotel since I own a little house out there, and you can take one of the spare bedrooms. Frankly, since you haven’t found me a suitable partner yet, you owe me. Therefore, you will be my date.”
She laughed. “Just like that?”
“Yes. Do you really want to stay here and mope around the apartment with your son gone, thinking about how you’ll never get married?”
“Ouch.”
“Well?”
She let out a resigned sigh. “I’m supposed to be giving you advice.”
“Not this time,” Bruno said.
“You make the offer sound very tempting, but I can’t. I’m not the spontaneous type.”
“Most women would jump at the chance to fly off to another city for a couple of days, all expenses paid.”
“I’m not most women.”
