Falling for Fitz (3 page)

“
I should say hello,” Fitz
mumbled, and his mother’s fingers tensed on his arm again. He
patted her hand reassuringly. “It’s fine, Mom.”

Eleanora smiled at Fitz, her eyes
swimming with a hundred unexpressed feelings: first among them,
compassion, followed by sympathy and encouragement. “Of course it
is, darling.”

She was tapped on the shoulder by an
acquaintance who stole her attention, and Fitz was left to wander
over to Barrett, Emily, and Daisy.

Barrett saw him first, waving him over
with a look that told Fitz that whoever Daisy’s fiancé was, he was
trying Barrett’s patience. Fitz kept his eyes locked on his
brother, bee-lining to Barrett’s side and leaning over his brother
to kiss Emily’s cheek. He braced himself before he turned
around.

Daisy’s eyes slammed into his, still
as dark blue as the sky had been the night that they’d—

“
Fitz,” she breathed in the
same throaty voice she’d had at seventeen. “It’s been a long
time.”

She held out her hand and his eyes
flicked to it, wondering what it would cost him to take it and hold
it for a second, even in the middle of a roomful of people, even
with her fiancé standing beside her. He reached for it and a bolt
of heat shot up his arm from the contact. If her parents were going
to choose a name from nature, Daisy had been all wrong for her. Her
name should have been storm or tornado or cyclone.

“
Daisy,” he said softly,
holding her eyes and trying to breathe normally. “It’s good to see
you.”

If he affected her as much as she
affected him, she was adept at concealing it. She had flinched for
a brief second when they first touched, but she’d quickly pasted a
polite smile on her face.

“
May I introduce my
fiancé—”

“
Melvin Murray,” said the
man beside her, and Fitz turned his attention to him for the first
time. He was a little under six feet tall, slightly stout with a
cheerful grin spread across his pasty face. “But you can call me
Dr. M. Everyo—”

“
Everyone does,” said
Barrett in a sing-song voice, like it heard it at least three times
before. Fitz caught his brother’s lips twitch in amusement before
returning to the cool façade he always wore, except when he was
staring at Emily.

“
That’s right! Everyone
does! And any friend of Daisy’s is a friend of mine. Put her
there!” he added, jutting out his hand.

It took Fitz a moment to process his
surprise before he quickly offered his hand, allowing it to be
pumped up and down enthusiastically by Dr. M.

“
What kind of medicine do
you practice?” asked Fitz, pulling away and subtly wiping the
residual clamminess on his thigh.

“
Dentistry,” said Melvin
with a flourish, opening his palms like jazz hands.

“
You’re a…
dentist.”

“
Yessiree. The best one in
Portland until this little hunk of heaven told me she was moving
back to Philly. Well, don’t you know, I popped the question then
and there so’as I wouldn’t lose her. And you know what?”

“
I can’t
imagine.”

“
Now I’m going to be the
best dentist in Philly!”

Fitz flicked his eyes at Daisy—Daisy
the living goddess, sex-on-a-stick Daisy, draped in midnight
blue—who stared deferentially at her buffoon of a fiancé like he
was the best thing since sliced bread.

“
Mel,” said Daisy in her
honey voice, placing a hand on Melvin’s forearm, and damn it if
Fitz didn’t actually feel the quick sting of jealousy for pasty,
paunchy Dr. M. “I need you alone for a minute.”

Melvin waggled his eyebrows at Fitz
before allowing himself to be pulled away by Daisy.

***

As they crossed the ballroom headed
for the lobby of the hotel, Daisy tried to quiet the fierce beating
of her heart. Everything was going according to plan.

She’d done it. She’d seen Fitz
English, and she’d managed not to fall over, faint, or throw
herself at him like a groupie. The money she’d spent on her new
ball gown had been well worth it too, from the way his jaw had
dropped when he saw her. She looked nothing like the pathetic girl
she’d been the last time he’d laid eyes on her. She was all grown
up: quietly successful, engaged, and mature.

Yes, everything was going according to
plan except… Josh.

As soon as they were in a dark, quiet
corner of the lobby, Daisy turned to her acting partner in a
flurry.

“
What the hell,
Josh?”

He cringed. “Too much?”

“
Too much!
Not to mention, you’re channeling the biggest
dork who ever lived.”

“
Hey. I
am
a dentist, Daisy.”

“
I know.” She
sighed.

“
And I’m a very good
dentist.”

“
You
are
,” she insisted, giving him a
sheepish smile. Josh was very sensitive,
and
he was doing her a huge favor.
She needed to be kinder to him.

“
A lot of people don’t
respect the profession of dentistry, and if that’s the—”

“
I
do. I respect it very much, Josh.”

“
I was trying to be funny
and successful. Aren’t other guys threatened by funny and
successful?”

Daisy rolled her eyes. “Actually,
they’re threatened by debonair and sexy.”

“
Well, then you should have
asked Ted to come to Philly with you,” said Josh, pouting. “I play
the second banana, not the leading man.”

Ted was another actor in
their community theater group back home in Wilbur, OR, and
Daisy
had
asked
Ted to join her for the weekend, but at the last minute he
cancelled, due to real-life work commitments. With two airline
tickets already purchased, Daisy had turned to Josh, a good friend
who she’d known for years. But Josh was right—he wasn’t really
leading man material. With a slight beer belly, thinning hair, and
the beginnings of jowls, he was the very definition of
unthreatening.

“
Listen, you don’t have to
threaten anyone, Josh. I just couldn’t bear to come home single,
looking pathetic and alone. Could you just tone it down? A little?
And maybe try to be… sexier?” She cringed as she said
it.

“
It’s not my strong suit,
but I’ll try. Any suggestions?”

“
Keep your arm around me or
your fingers laced through mine. Maybe brush my hair from my
shoulder and kiss my neck. You know, like we’re in
love.”

Josh nodded, his eyes trained on hers
as she gave him notes on his performance. Josh took notes very
seriously. “Yep, yep. I see where you’re going here.”

Daisy nodded, smiling in
encouragement. “You know, run your finger down my arm, or, um,
maybe say something about
later
.” When she said “later,” Daisy
used air quotes. “You know, like, um, ‘I can’t wait to get you
alone
later
.’
Something like that.”

“
Ohhhhhhh,” said Josh,
tsking, then nodding slowly, like the mysteries of the world were
being revealed. “You know, Daisy? I should try some of this stuff
on Sara Meyers when we get back.”

Daisy lurched forward,
smiling and placing a hand on Josh’s arm. “Yes! That’s a great
idea. Pretend I’m Sara. And you’re trying to seduce me. Like
Stanley in
A Streetcar Named
Desire
.”

“
Oh,” said Josh, his face
falling. “Stanley was Ted’s roll.”

“
But you
could have
done it,
Josh. You have the talent. Definitely.”

“
You think?” he perked up
again.

Good Lord, being an acting coach was
exhausting. She was glad she was a baker instead.

“
Of course! Pretend I’m
Sara playing Stella.” She tossed her hair in an attempt to be sexy.
“And you be my Stanley. All manly and gruff and sexy, okay? That’s
the scene.”

Josh took a deep breath and
nodded. “Got it. You leave it to me,
Stella.
”

He winked then closed his eyes,
wringing out his hands and hopping up and down. She’d seen Josh do
this before. He was getting into character.

Daisy looked over her shoulder to be
sure no one was watching them. When she was content that their
charade was safe, she turned back to Josh who had opened his eyes.
They were focused, with hunger and precision, on Daisy.

“
Come on, baby,” said Josh,
putting his arm around her waist and pulling her up against his
side possessively. “Let’s roll.”

***

When Daisy and Dr. M. returned, her
hair was slightly messy and her lipstick had been reapplied. Not to
mention, the goddamned dentist’s beefy hand was clutching the bare
skin of her hip like he owned her. Fitz’s fingers curled into
fists, and he exhaled through his nose like a bull.

“
I hope you didn’t wait for
us,” said Daisy, taking a seat at the table between Fitz and
Barrett.

“
Dr. M. has needs,” said
Dr. M. in a growl, leaning down to push her hair to the side and
press his puffy lips to the side of her neck. He narrowed his eyes
meaningfully at Fitz before taking his seat across the round table
between Susannah and Emily.

Fitz looked askance as Daisy picked up
her pre-set dinner wineglass and took a long sip. What was she
doing with this guy, anyway?

As she replaced the glass, Fitz picked
up his and their wrists brushed. He froze and when he looked at
her, she was staring at the place where their skin touched,
mesmerized.

“
Daisy,” he said softly,
not daring to move. “It’s a surprise to see you again.”

She withdrew her hand quickly, placing
it in her lap and looking up at him. “It’s been years.”

“
How have you
been?”

As the light buzz of polite
conversation surrounded them, Fitz sipped his wine, turning his
body slightly to face her. Convention required a girl-boy-girl-boy
pattern for sitting down to dinner, and Fitz had jockeyed heavily
to keep the seat between him and Barrett empty for
Daisy.

“
Fine. Busy.”

“
What do you do
now?’

She sat back in her seat, looking at
him through darkened lashes. She was wearing mascara. He knew this
because he remembered that her lashes were as pale as her
hair.

“
I bake
cookies.”

“
What
?” he asked, taken aback, distracted from her
eyelashes.

She grinned and nodded. “I
own company called
Daisy’s
Delights
. I make cookies and decorate them
and sell them online.”

“
Cookies.” It sounded so
wacky and yet somehow it was perfect.

“
What can I say? People
like my cookies.”

He could tell she hadn’t meant for her
words to be suggestive, but he flicked an approving glance to her
breasts anyway. Her eyes widened in surprise as she perceived his
meaning, and she shrugged delicately, making the halter of her
dress ripple lightly in the dim light of the ballroom. He longed to
lean forward and press his lips to her shoulder, trail them up her
warm skin to her throat, and rest them on her fluttering pulse. Was
she remembering as he was? Sitting here beside him over nine years
later… was she remembering the night by the pool? All the nights
that went before when he touched her, loved her, made her come
beneath his fingers?

“
I’m sort of sick of the
online thing, though,” she continued quickly, her voice slightly
more nervous than it had been before. “I think what I’d really like
to do is have a little brick and mortar shop. Still called
Daisy’s Delights
, but a
smart little bakery. With cupcakes and cookies and really good
coffee.”

“
Why don’t you do
it?”

“
Oh, I wouldn’t know the
first thing about getting started,” she said. “Someday I will.
Maybe.”

Fitz filed this away. If there was
anything the English brothers were good at, it was business. If
Daisy wanted to start one, he would help her. It was the least he
could do if her fiancé wouldn’t.

“
Couldn’t, uh…” Fitz
flicked his glance at Melvin, who sat this his arms crossed over
his chest belligerently, staring at Daisy from across the table.
“Couldn’t Dr. M. give you a hand?”

“
I suppose he could,” she
said, looking at her beloved, who scowled back at her. She turned
to Fitz. “But I’ve never told him about it.”

Fitz frowned at her. What kind of guy
was he anyway? She didn’t share her dreams with him? Was she afraid
of him? The aggressive way he stared at her now had Fitz on his
guard. Had she told Melvin about their history? That might account
for the angry, possessive looks he kept shooting at
them.

“
Well, if you ever need any
help…” said Fitz vaguely.

“
If I need help, then
what?”