A few minutes later, London came back, looking very pleased. “It’s a business meeting.”
“What?” Carson looked as lost as I was.
“The woman with Drake was in the bathroom, so I asked her if she was on a date.”
“London!” I was horrified.
“Relax. I didn’t say Drake’s name or anything like that. I just asked if she was on a date.” She grinned at me. “She’s not. It’s a business meeting.”
I tried to ignore the way my pulse suddenly raced, and the flicker of hope that appeared now that I knew he hadn’t moved on.
“It doesn’t matter,” I said firmly. “All I want to think about is dessert, okay? Drake can do whatever he wants with whoever he wants. I don’t care.”
Carson and London exchanged looks, but they didn’t press the issue. If I had to continue saying I didn’t care, I’d go insane.
Especially since I knew it wasn’t the truth.
FORTY-SEVEN
DRAKE
I wasn’ta fan of French food, but Judith Barber was. As an important client who’d been with the firm for twenty years, I’d booked reservations for us at Petite Boucherie.
Judith was a pleasure to have as a client. She never tried to second-guess us. She was the sort of person everyone liked, and taking her out was always a fun time.
Judith could be flirty, for sure. That was her little game. But she was happily married, so it never bothered me.
Until I saw familiar faces being seated at a table across the room.
The McCraes.
Maggie, Carson, and what must be London. While I hadn’t met the younger McCrae girl, I knew she lived in the city, and I noticed her similar features.
“Dammit.”
“Everything all right, Drake?” Judith’s concerned tone brought my attention back to her.
“Aye.” I cleared my throat. “Yes. I’m fine.”
She raised an eyebrow but said nothing, though I thought that was more because of the arrival of our food than my response. Fortunately, she focused on eating. I followed her lead and hoped I could get us out of the restaurant before Maggie or Carson saw us.
I told myself that was why I kept looking at the McCraes’ table, checking to make sure they hadn’t spotted me yet.
“How many years have we known each other?” Judith asked abruptly.
I blinked, startled by the question. “Fifteen years?”
“Fifteen years,” she agreed. “And we’ve gone to dinner together maybe twenty or thirty times in those years?”
I nodded, wondering where she was going with this. “That sounds about right.”
“In all that time, I’ve never known you to be distracted.” Her dark eyes were sharp. “Which of the McCrae siblings are you watching?”
I couldn’t react fast enough to hide my shock.
“The musician, the designer, or the actor?” she continued. “Such a talented family.” She took a drink of her wine.
Shit.