“And give a little hurrah.” She heard the smile in his voice. She wished she could see it.
“Yes. Exactly. Where are you?” she asked, picking up her glass of wine. “Are you still in New York?”
“No. Los Angeles, at my house in Laurel Canyon,” he said, sounding less than thrilled. “My agent—a fine, upstanding woman who works way, way too hard at her job—saw fit to book me for some appearances on the west coast. I’m actually taking a break before I head out to tape an interview for . . . some show. I don’t even know anymore.”
“It must get crazy busy for you when you have a new movie come out,” she sympathized.
“I’d hoped to be able to make it back to Chicago to see you again.”
“Oh,” she said, her wineglass halted halfway to her mouth. “Does that mean we’re not doing the trip next weekend to your sister’s?”
“No, that’s definitely on. Neither wild horses nor my agent’s bullwhip could keep me away.”
Relief flooded through her. She took a sip of her wine and was suddenly glad that he couldn’t see her grinning.
“Good, I’m glad,” she said.
“I just meant that I wanted to see you before then. As things stand, I probably will have to just meet you at Katie and Rill’s,” he said regretfully. “Is that okay?”
“Of course. I’m flying down with Seth. That will work out fine.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
She swallowed thickly. “I am, too.”
For a moment, neither of them spoke. The silence swelled.
“So what’s for dinner?” Everett finally asked.
“Cobb salad.”
“Can I eat with you?”
She laughed and picked up a fork. “If you like. What are you going to have?”
“Your company,” he murmured. “That’s much, much better than anything I’ve got in the kitchen. Anything the best chefs in L.A. could offer, for that matter.”
Joy paused in the action of flipping a piece of bacon. A prickling sensation had moved from her ear to her neck at the sound of his deep voice, causing her nipples to tighten. She shook her head as if to clear it.
She shouldn’t have been surprised that Everett could seduce effortlessly, even through a phone line.
* * *
On Wednesday, she spent most of the afternoon helping Seth with his sketches. Afterward, Seth took her out for an early dinner and then had to rush back to his hotel for a conference call. Joy had just arrived back home and changed into a pair of yoga pants and a T-shirt when her cell phone rang. Her heart jumped when she recognized Everett’s number.
“Hello?”
“I’ve already eaten tonight. We’ll have to find something else to do together,” he said, forgoing a greeting.
“And how do you know if I have eaten?” she asked amusedly.
“You’re right. Rude of me. Have you eaten?”
“I have. Seth took me out to dinner. How was your day?” she asked as she filled a glass with ice.
“Given the state of technology today, I don’t see why it’s not possible for them to make a robot of me that goes around and repeats the same inane sentences over and over. It’s no different from what I do for promotional appearances.”
“What did you tape today?” she asked, filling her glass with water.