Chapter 32 #2
I sighed. “Matteo would be an amazing father.”
“Have you guys talked about the future?”
“Not in any detail. I’ve only just started to accept how I’m feeling and stopped trying to push him away.”
“Oh, honey.” Cassie patted my hand. “You’ll figure it out. I know you will.”
“I really enjoyed court today, and being here with Matteo has been amazing, so let’s change the subject so I don’t break out in hives before the guys join us. Why don’t you give me all the office gossip in the meantime?”
Cassie filled me in on what was going on at the firm, including Sierra’s baby bump starting to show and the new rumors flying around about who the father might be. Apparently, no one had considered that it could possibly be Harry because, well, who in their right mind would have sex with that man?
A few minutes before six, Matteo walked in.
He scanned the bar, and when his eyes landed on me, a slow, sexy smile spread across his face.
And damn, I felt it. My heart skipped a beat, and my insides lit up like a Christmas tree.
There were probably forty people sitting at the bar, and more at tables between where I was and the door, yet everything blurred, and the only person who existed was him.
I’d had good chemistry with men, but never the type that pushed all my buttons just because he walked in the room. Every step Matteo took, my pulse raced a little faster.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Cassie shift in her seat and follow my line of sight. “Oh my God. Is that your Matteo? He’s insanely good-looking.”
I nodded but never took my eyes from the man approaching.
“Ciao,” he said. His voice was smooth like honey, and I swear my heart skipped another beat. If it kept up, I might need to get it checked. Matteo leaned over and kissed my cheek before offering a little bow to my friend. “Hello.” He extended his hand. “You must be Cassie?”
The smile on her face went from ear to ear. “I think I am. But my brain is sort of frazzled at the moment.”
I feel you, Cass.
A few minutes later, Cass’s husband, Ryan, joined us, and the four of us eventually went to a table for dinner.
“How was your day in court?” Ryan asked.
Cass answered for me before I could open my mouth. “She was a rock star. You should’ve seen her.”
Matteo smiled and took my hand across the table. “I would expect nothing less.”
“It wasn’t that big of a deal.”
“Don’t listen to her,” Cass said, waving me off. “She shredded the wife on the stand. And she deserved it. It was beautiful. She did such a great job that her client is referring her to a celebrity. A big one.”
Across the table, the smile stayed on Matteo’s face, but something in his eyes shifted. “Sounds like New York is going to keep you busy.”
My chest tightened. He wasn’t wrong. These kinds of referrals could turn into something pretty quickly.
My first big divorce case, I’d represented the vice president of a large real estate brokerage.
After I kicked her husband’s ass on the stand, and he wound up with half the settlement he’d been going for, I must’ve taken on ten other brokers and executives in the first year just from that one firm.
“Busy is good,” Ryan chimed in. He lifted his glass. “To Allegra’s success, which I hope means my wife can go back to working for her, so I don’t have to listen to her complain about the woman she reports to now anymore.”
We laughed and clinked glasses. Matteo put on a happy face, but there was an undercurrent beneath, and his grip on my hand loosened. I slid my fingers more firmly into his and squeezed. He met my gaze, and his smile widened, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes.
Cass leaned in, launching into a story about a disastrous client meeting we’d once had.
We’d been prepping for the deposition of a wife divorcing her husband because he was having an affair.
And we’d accidentally mixed up the wife and mistress—they looked almost identical, so clearly the husband had a type—and we wound up questioning the wife about her hotel rendezvous before we figured it out.
One story led to another—divorce law tends to be an endless well of dramatic tales.
We all laughed, but every so often I caught Matteo watching me, and I knew he was thinking what I’d been thinking about him.
How can I ask this woman to leave something she loves so much?
I wanted to tell him I hadn’t figured out how to be in two places at once yet, but now wasn’t the time for that.
Matteo teased Ryan about his pronunciation of gnocchi, and the two men laughed at my expense when Matteo told Ryan how he had to be a firefighter, too—when I’d cooked.
When dinner arrived, conversation shifted from work to Matteo’s vineyard. It was clear he was proud of what he did, and I could’ve sat there all night gazing at him and listening to his sexy Italian accent.
We ordered four different desserts and passed the plates around to share. When Matteo passed the cheesecake to me, he leaned in, and his lips brushed my ear. “Sono orgoglioso di te,” he whispered. I’m proud of you.
My throat tightened. “Grazie,” I whispered back.
I knew we needed to have a bigger conversation about my work, but maybe that was enough for tonight. We’d have plenty of time for serious discussion once we got back. Or at least, that’s what I thought…