Bridget, who’d gone to work three months ago for a local used car dealership right here in the neighborhood, nodded. “They’re a mess. But every time I ask him for access to older records, he practically pats me on the head and sends me back to my desk like a good little girl.”
Izzie assumed her cousin meant her boss figuratively patted her on the head. Because, though Bridget was in no way a fireball like Izzie and her two sisters-she wasn’t a pushover, either. It might take her awhile to get her steam up, but Izzie had seen glimpses of temper in her sweet-as-sugar Irish-Italian cousin. That boss of hers obviously hadn’t gotten to know the real Bridget yet. Because she was about the most quietly stubborn person Izzie had ever met…as anyone who’d ever tried to beat her in a game of Monopoly could attest.
“Why don’t you quit?”
Her cousin lifted her mug, leaning her head over it so that her long bangs fell over her pretty amber eyes. She looked as if she had something to hide. And if Izzie wasn’t mistaken, that was a blush rising in her cheeks.
A blush. Cripes, Izzie didn’t even know if she remembered how to blush. The last time her cheeks had been pinkened by anything other than makeup was when she’d burned herself while lying out too long on the deck of a cruise ship a year ago.
Trying to hide a smile, she murmured, “Who is he?”
Her cousin almost dropped the mug. “Huh?”
“Oh, come on, I know there’s a guy.”
“Um…well…”
“For heaven’s sake, you’re looking at a woman who used to schedule two dates a night, just come out with it.”
Chuckling, her cousin did. “There’s this new salesman.”
“A used car salesman?” Izzie asked skeptically.
Frowning, Bridget asked, “Do you want to hear this or not?”
Izzie made a “lips-zipped” motion over her mouth.
“His name’s Dean,” Bridget continued. “Dean Willis. And Marty hired him about a month ago. He’s got cute, shaggy blond hair and big blue eyes-well, I assume they’re big. They could look bigger because of the thick glasses he wears.”
She watched Izzie, as if waiting for a comment. Izzie somehow managed to refrain from making one.
“He’s sold more cars than anyone else because he’s just so…quiet. Easy to talk to. Unassuming.” Sighing a little, Bridget added, “And he has the nicest smile.”
Izzie had never heard her cousin go on like this about a man. Must be serious. “So, have you gone out with him?”
Bridget shook her head and sighed again-only, much louder. “He’s never even noticed I’m alive.”
Snorting, Izzie replied, “I doubt that. You’re adorable.”
Bridget’s bottom lip came out in a tiny pout. “Fluffy teddy bears are adorable. I want to be…something else.”
Sexy. It was obviously what Bridget had in mind. Izzie eyed her cousin, considering making her over. Bridget had the basics-she just needed to bring them out a little. But she didn’t think Bridget needed much. She was so quietly pretty, so gentle and feminine…any guy would be an idiot to want to change her.
Then again, she’d known a ton of guys, few of whom were Einstein material. “So ask him out. Make him notice you.”
“I couldn’t.”
“Just for a cup of coffee.”
Her cousin snagged her lip between her teeth.
“What?”
“Well, he did ask me to go for coffee once, but I was so flustered and nervous, I told him I didn’t drink it.”
Raising a brow and staring pointedly at the industrial-sized mug in front of her cousin’s face, Izzie grunted.
“But it wasn’t a date,” Bridget added. “At least, I don’t think so.” Sounding frustrated, she added, “Maybe I should get a collagen injection. I’ve heard men like big lips.”
Ridiculous. Bridget’s beauty was the natural kind that needed no false crap like the stuff Izzie had seen other dancers do to themselves. But before she could say that-or threaten to lob a handful of ricotta cheesecake filling at Bridget if she did something so dumb-she heard the bell over the front door.
Glancing at the clock, she bit back a curse. It was nearly five-an hour after closing time. She must have forgotten to lock the door after her part-time lunch workers had left for the day and some customer had wandered in for a snack.
She doubted there was much left to serve. Mornings were their busiest time, with regulars and passers-by coming in for pastries and muffins. During the lunch hour, when Natale’s served light sandwiches and salads along with decadent deserts, they were busy, too. Since Izzie had come up with the idea to offer free wireless Internet access to anyone with a laptop, some customers parked themselves at one of the small, café tables and remained there until closing time. They drank a lot of coffee…and ate a lot of sweets. By 4:00 p.m., Natale’s display counter was generally wiped out, as this late customer would soon discover.
“Hello?” a voice called.
Grabbing a towel, Izzie wiped her hands on it and tossed it over her shoulder. “Be right back,” she told her cousin as she walked down the short hallway to the café. “Sorry, we’re closed for the…” The words died on her lips when she saw who stood on the other side of the glass display case, looking so hot she almost shielded her eyes from the glory of him.
“I know.” He shrugged slightly. “But the door was unlocked, so I thought I’d take a chance and see if you were here.”
Nick stood inside the shadowy café, illuminated by the late afternoon sunlight streaming in through the front window. The light reflected in his dark eyes, lending them a golden glow that seemed to radiate warmth. She felt it from here.
“You found me,” she murmured.
“You didn’t exactly need to leave a trail of crumbs, Cookie…this place has been here forever.”
“Don’t call me Cookie,” she snapped.
He held up his hands, palms out. “Sorry.”
Ordering her heart to continue beating normally, Izzie tossed the towel onto the counter, then crossed her arms over her chest to stare at him. “Are you trying to tell me you knew I’d be here because you knew who I was? Try again.”
Nick cleared his throat, averting his gaze. Wincing in a cutely sheepish way, he said, “No, I didn’t know you at first.”
So, he’d recognized her after she had left?
“Mark told me who you were.”
The jerk.
“I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you. It’s been a long time.”
Not long enough to erase him from her mind, that was for sure. She’d recognize Nick Santori if she bumped into him blindfolded during a blackout. Because his scent was imprinted in her brain. And her body reacted in one instinctive way whenever he was near-a way it didn’t react with anyone else, even men with whom she’d been intimate.
He made her shaky and achy and weak and ravenous all at the same time. Always had, for some unknown reason.
“Yeah. A long time,” she mumbled, walking over to wash her hands in the small sink behind the counter.
Damn, she hated that he flustered her. She had known more handsome men. She’d been to bed with more handsome men. Maybe none who were as rugged and masculine, or so sensual. But she had dated drop-dead gorgeous actors and millionaires who wanted to notch their bedposts with a professional dancer who could kick her leg straight up above her head. None of them had ever affected her the way this one-who she’d never even kissed-did.
“I have to run, Izzie,” a voice said. “I don’t want to be…in the way.”
Izzie had almost forgotten Bridget was in the kitchen. Seeing the grin on her cousin’s face, she blew out a deep, frustrated breath. She’d intended to use Bridget as an excuse-or at the very least as a five-foot-five chastity belt, to keep Izzie from doing something stupid. Like smearing rich cheesecake filling all over Nick’s body, then slowly licking it off.
But her cousin was bailing on her, already heading toward the exit. “Nice to see you, Nick,” she said.