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“I am a fool.”
Still clutching my phone, I drop it in my pocket. I’ll forget tonight ever happened. Calling a woman who brings out feelings in me is foolish at best and dangerous at worst.
Two
Felicity
It’s not as if I really expected him to call. So why am I still thinking about Mantus Kohl four days after he tried to crash a wedding? I shouldn’t be. He was just some guy who thought I’d be an easy mark when finding one at the party didn’t work out.
“Stop moping.” Rachel is my assistant, but she’s also my friend.
Jumping slightly at her scolding tone, I go back to working on the proposal I’ve been blindly staring at for ten minutes. “I’m not moping. I just hope he calls. At least, I think I do.”
Rachel is tall and curvy with honey-brown skin to die for and one of those raspy voices men love. She sits on my desk and pats her black ringlets. “I saw him, and I saw the way you two looked at each other. If the scene were any hotter, I’d have had to find the best man and take him to the coat closet for a whirl.”
“Oh god.” I drop my forehead on my arm on the desk. “I made a fool of myself.”
“No, but if it had gone any further, you might have. I would just call him, but you are not me.” She flips one of her curls and pops off the desk. “Maybe the feels were too intense for your Mantus man who looks like sin wearing designer jeans and a graphic T-shirt.”
“I’m not calling him. He’s the one who made overtures. He accused me of some kind of prejudice based on his looks and dress and then tried to seduce me against a wall in public. He needs to make the first move.” My voice gets louder and I have to breathe or I’ll start hyperventilating just thinking about how big and hard he felt when he pressed me against that wall.
“But you explained that it was only his lack of invitation that kept him out of the party, so stop fretting about it.” She grabs a box of party favors and heads for the table on the other side of our office, which is a large room at the back of my house in Somerset, New Jersey.
“I did. The entire thing was very strange, and what kind of name is Mantus? Though, it suits him.” It’s so hard to concentrate once I start thinking about him. I pull out my phone from my purse and put it on the desk, check my messages for the tenth time, then turn back to my computer screen.
No amount of concentration is going to get that man out of my head. He invades my dreams with his big hands and sorrowful blue eyes. Grabbing my phone, I pull up his number and hit the message button. I’ll just send him a text and then be done with it.
I thought you’d call, but since you didn’t, I’m deleting your number.
I push the phone aside, screen down, as if that will banish him, and plug some numbers into my proposal.
My phone beeps.
I stare at it.
Rachel looks up from making party favors. “Is that him?”
“Maybe.” My heart is pumping too much blood into my ears and I’m getting dizzy.
“Pick it up and find out what he said.” She stands and walks to the front of my desk.
“I’m not sure I want to know.” My chest is tight.
She picks up my phone.
“Don’t.” I cringe.
She smiles and reads his message. “Sweet Felicity, don’t delete me just yet. Have dinner with me on Friday night.”
I snatch the phone out of her hand. “I can’t have dinner with him this Friday. We have the Julius wedding on Saturday and their rehearsal dinner on Friday.”
“I can handle the rehearsal dinner. See if he’s worth this all-consuming thought and either bang him or dismiss him, but please, girl, stop pining over him.” Rachel goes back to the table.
Of course, Rachel can handle the dinner. I wanted Mantus to call and now I’m afraid to respond. “If he breaks my heart, you’re going to have to pick up the pieces and bring ice cream.”
“I’ll bring two gallons of rocky road and extra chocolate syrup if it comes to that.” She winks and cuts a long piece of ribbon.
I read his message again, then type my reply.
