Page 51 of Love You, Mean It

“First off, that can change. Our knowing each other, I mean. Genuinely, all this aside, you seem like my kind of people.”

“Oh? Is it my glamorous lifestyle?” I gestured around the room with a bologna.

“More that. The sense of humor. It’s harder to find than people think. And the style, glamorous or not. But anyway, you’re right, we don’t know each other, at least not yet. Which is why I’d neverdreamof asking if I didn’t think I could scratch your back too. You’re doing this to keep Mangia out, right?”

I tilted my head to one side, not quite a concession, but definitely not a denial.

“I could help with that. Throw my weight behind ending the deal…”

“Sorry, but…what weight?” I crinkled my nose, skeptical. “I know you have some extremely high-powered job, andclearlyTed’s a fan, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to make major business decisions based on your recommendation.”

“Maybe not now, but trust me…I could help youverysoon. And in a major way.”

“And I suppose if I don’t agree you’ll make sure my verystylishdeli goes the way of the dodo?” I narrowed my eyes.

“Definitely not. I was being genuine, Ellie. I think this place is what Milborough needsmoreof. Mangia…it’s exactly the wrongdirection. If you say no, I’ll be disappointed, obviously, and I can’t promise I’ll try to cash in the chips I have for your sake, but I’m not going to get in the way.” She licked her upper lip, eyes flitting to the side in uncharacteristic uncertainty. “Also…I know the engagement isn’t real, but if there’s something between you and Theo that I just totally blew by,pleasepretend I never said anything. I had my chance and I screwed it up. That’s not something you should pay for. There wouldn’t be any hard feelings.”

“Really? You just offered a Faustian bargain where my half would be getting you two together.”

“Yes, but I’m not here to break anyone up, I’m here because I’massumingthere’s nothing to come between in the first place. If there is…then this conversation never happened.” She shrugged. “I’m not one of those women who view everyone else who was born with ovaries as competition. I mean…I think you’re cool, why shouldn’t Theo?”

“That’s because Iamcool,” I deadpanned.

“See? Proving my point.” A genuine grin overtook her face, then it went more somber. “Seriously, though, if you and Theo are the real deal, forget I said anything. But if you’re not…It took me too long to realize I messed up when I let him go. I want to try again. I feelreadyto try again. So if this whole thing is just about Mangia…think it over, yeah? There’s a way everyone could come out of this getting what they want.”

And with that she hurried out, leaving me in a swirl of her undoubtedly expensive perfume, and an even more tumultuous tornado of confusion.

Could I really help her and Theo get back together? Double-crosshimeven as he and I were trying to double-cross the entire town?

Also…was it even what I wanted?

My brain kept screamingYes, focus on saving the deli, he’ssonot for you,but every time I imagined the way his lips grazed my jaw…

On the other hand, could I afford to say no?

I hadn’t untangled the Gordian knot of Sam’s proposition by the time I showed up at Theo’s door, so I decided to push it to the back of my mind and focus on the more immediate concern: It was imperative that Ted be willing to at leastcallthe board meeting that could set things in motion. Which meant nailing our party plan.

I shifted the focaccia and whipped red pepper ricotta to one hand to hit the elevator button for Theo’s floor—he’d given me a fob after our first study session. I hadn’t even managed to fix my hair when the door opened not on the empty hallway I’d been expecting, but on Theo, eyes bright. His hair had freed itself from its business confines, flopping over his forehead in a way that evoked his teenaged self, and he’d swapped out his usual checked button-down for a faded Milborough Lacrosse T-shirt that probably hung off his lanky frame once, but that now pulled tight across his broad shoulders, highlighting the muscles of his arms and chest and somehow turning his chiseled good looks younger, and sweeter. More like the kind of guy I usually found myself swiping—

Nope. Hard nope. Not happening.

“Were you just waiting outside the elevator door?” I said, voice a little too tart in my effort to silence my unwelcome internal monologue.

“We get alerts when someone’s entering our unit. As a safety feature?”

“Oh. Right, well…here.” I thrust the bread and spread at him.

“You didn’t need to bring anything…”

“Yes, I did. Generations of Italian ghosts would haunt me if I showed up empty-handed. Besides, this is like…the best thing we have in the deli.”

“High praise.” He waggled his eyebrows and I laughed, shoulders lowering as I pushed past him. It was justTheo,not some nuclear sex bomb I’d set off if I got too close. Imagining all the various special-edition Topsiders he probably owned could shut off any unwelcome libido. Besides, he clearly wasn’t worried aboutme.“So? We’re on a timeline, we should get started, right?”

“I love how we’ve never lost the romance,” he deadpanned as he trailed after me into the kitchen, laying the bread and cheese down to start searching for a cutting board.

“When people think of me, the first word that comes to mind is ‘romantic.’ ”

“Oh? For me it’s ‘salami.’ ”

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