Page 41 of Awestruck at Dusk
“Miss Murphy,” I heard from behind me. I turned around, startled, and saw David. His face tense, his jaw popping out, and his gaze burning.
Oh…
“Hey, David. Is everything okay?” I asked as CJ sat up straight in his seat and picked up his martini glass off the table, taking it to his lips.
“Just wanted to make sure everything’s okay over here,” he said, glaring at CJ. “And I also wanted to inform you that Amena’s standing by in case you need to go to the ladies’ room. She’ll have to escort you.”
I already knew that. Amena had been coming inside all public restrooms with me ever since I left the hospital. But I guess all David wanted was an excuse to approach the table.
“Mr. Jewel, may I have a word, please?” he said, looking at CJ, followed by a tiny, tiny smile.
I wouldn’t want to be CJ right now. David must’ve seen him flirting with our server, and I didn’t even know where David and CJ stood, but they had to besomethingenough to cause him to dart our way the second CJ did that.
CJ finished off his martini and made a face as he gulped the whole thing. He dropped the glass on the table and said with a big smile, “Maybe later, Dr. Scott?”
Doctor? I had to get a fact-check on that one later.
“Christopher,” David said in a commanding voice. CJ tilted his head with a smirk and stared at David, who insisted on setting him aside to talk. “Now.”
“That’s not fair. You know I love it when you get rough and feisty on me.” CJ stood up. “I’ll be right back, girls.”
Ren made a face, and I laughed a little.
“You’re one of us now,” Nina teased.
“I see that,” Ren replied, still chuckling. He then dropped a kiss on Sophie’s lips. They were spilling honey all over the place. I was happy for them. But Cecile looked bored as hell. I had to fix that.
David and CJ walked away, and everyone turned silent on the table, noticing the apparent tension between them.
“Prom King has arrived,” Nina said, breaking the silence. Sophie immediately looked around the place to see what Nina meant. Her eyes widened when she saw William. Sophie would forever be starstruck in William’s presence. And damn … I was just in awe of him too.
He came walking out from one of the corridors holding a glass of red wine in his left hand and directing three servers who carried a big paella casserole each.
I covered my mouth in shock as I watched him instructing them what to do, how to place the things correctly on the table, making sure everything was perfect, I guess. But I lowered my hand from my face, attempting to appear normal again.
“Everything okay?” Nina chuckled as another server rushed out of the kitchen carrying two big baskets of bread. William patted one of the server’s backs and glanced at me with the warmest smile I’ve ever seen on his face.
My mouth twitched up, and I turned around to take a long swig of my wine. “Ah, yeah. Why?” I replied to Nina a century later.
“Hmm,” she hummed, pouting her lips to the side. “You went pale there for a second. It must be the wine, right? I’d tell you to take it easy, but it’s your birthday, so drink away.”
“Yeah, it must be,” I said, taking another sip of it, trying to prove Nina’s theory right. But I knew she was teasing me about William. Shit, shit, shit.
“Surprise,” William’s deep voice uttered behind me.
Nemorino’s
“HEY!” I SAID, turning around, almost dropping my wineglass. “Whoa.”
William kissed both of my cheeks, and that little fire inside me that I usually kept at check turned against me, burning me with its rebellion.
William lookedincredibleon the nerve-inducing scale. He wore black dress pants with a thin, black, long-sleeved, crew neck sweater that hugged his upper body in all the right places. His face was clean-shaven, and not a single one of his golden strands was out of place.
“Zara told me about the dresses Enzio de Luca sent you. This one looks—made for you,” he said, his gaze wandering down at my dress for a second.
“Thanks,” I replied. “Did you have anything to do with this?” It wouldn’t have surprised me at all if he did.
“I swear I didn’t. Not this time,” William said, lifting his right hand just slightly. “They loved you.”
