Page 20 of Halstead House

“I am not ogling the man.” I startled myself by getting snippy. I put a fluttering hand to my chest. “I didn’t realize...” I wasn’t sure how to finish the sentence. Leave it to Ana to want me to anyhow.

“Realize what?”

I wasn’t about to let her know I was experiencing the first zing of my life over this total stranger who was in no way inviting any of those feelings. In truth, he appeared to be the polar—and I do mean polar—opposite of everything I’d ever hoped to find in a man. Mother would love him. Mother loved power and purpose and cool interactions. Well, I’d had enough of controlled anything. All the zinging had left me nauseated, and the impressions he gave off made me somehow melancholy. I probably needed more than a Snickers bar to get me through this one.

I waved a casual hand in the direction of Eliza and John Lucas, hoping to redirect Ana. “Look how everyone is fawning over them. If you’ll remember, I grew up in Providence. I was over two thousand miles away,” I whispered. It wasn’t the whole truth, but my face felt warm and I was hoping I looked uncomfortable enough to convince Ana that this was nothing more than a case of being starstruck.

“This Aunt Mary never showed you any pictures?”

“What?”

“Of the man you’re staring at.”

I blinked, stunned that she could see through me so clearly. “What?”

“Tailored suit, black hair, olive skin, dreamy dimples.”

“He does not have dreamy dimples,” I muttered. “He has a beard.” I actually would not be surprised to find out he did have dimples under that facial hair.

“Yeah, well, you’ll have to take my word for it,” she joked.

“Oh, Ana.” I put a hand over my face. “I was not... forget it. Any pictures I saw of him were when he was a lot younger, wearing glasses, with a face dirty from eating berries in Mary’s yard.” I wasn’t about to mention that I’d also seen grown-up pictures of him on the internet, dressed just like this, but they hadn’t done him justice. In person he gave off a vibe that didn’t translate through a computer screen.

“You saw him at the beach the other day.”

“Yes, but he was dressed down and didn’t look so...”

“Impressive?”

“Unapproachable, standoffish, aloof.”

“Huh. Well, you’d better pull yourself together. Eliza is going to officially introduce you to him. If that gray suit of yours really does have superpowers, you’ll want to call on them now.”

“Now?” My hand fell to my side.

“Eliza is standing next to him and gesturing to you. Better scoot.” Ana tapped me on the back.

The tap rebooted my brain and settled the tingling feeling I’d had. I took a deep breath and willed myself to relax one muscle at a time as I walked the length of the room. I weaved as gracefully as I could between tables and guests, to where Eliza and John Lucas stood.

“Grace, dear, you haven’t had a chance to meet my nephew, Lucas.” Eliza smiled warmly as she reached a hand out and grasped my slightly cold one. “I’ve been meaning to introduce you, but he’s been so hard to catch. Here he is now.”

My face slid into its familiar plastic society smile as I forced my eyes up to his. So... he went by Lucas, not John Lucas. Okay. All the Halstead men had the first name of John and had for generations. Most of them had gone by the dual name, but somehow just Lucas suited him better. He offered an abrupt nod in greeting.

“Grace and I have bumped into each other once or twice already,” he said.

“Wonderful. Did she tell you who she is?” Eliza beamed at her nephew.

His light eyes clouded for a just a moment. “I don’t believe so.” The look said he’d been surprised in the past and didn’t like it.

“Oh, she must have been feeling shy.” Eliza squeezed my numb fingers. “This is Miss Grace Burke. Aunt Mary’s ‘little Gracie’.”

Lucas’s eyes zoned in on me, truly looking for possibly the first time. His gaze seemed to hit every point of my face, and I held perfectly still under his scrutiny. There were things in his eyes I didn’t understand. After what felt like hours, but couldn’t have been longer than three seconds, his shoulders relaxed.

I tried to relax a bit as well, but my smile couldn’t quite slip into its natural state. “Yes, well, I’m not in the habit of telling my full genealogy to everyone I meet.” I was gratified when Eliza chuckled softly. Lucas didn’t, which wasn’t great, but also wasn’t unexpected.

We were interrupted by the head of the charitable organization, whose luncheon this was, before we could make any more conversation. I didn’t mind. I needed to gather my thoughts.

“Please, excuse me,” I said tactfully, my professional façade back in place. “There are a few things I need to attend to.”

---