“You were never a Boy Scout, Lucas.”
It was my turn to roll my eyes. “Whatever. Come on, it’s after one, and she’ll think I stood her up.”
Shawn followed me into the restaurant. It didn’t take long to find Hollie. My breath caught in my throat like it did every single time I saw this woman. It had since I could remember.
Sitting at a table by herself, Hollie looked beautiful. Her light-brown hair was pulled up and piled on top of her head in one of those messy buns women wore all the time. A few loose strands hung down, and she was twirling one in her finger as shechewed on a pencil while staring down at the open notebook on the table.
When she looked up, her cobalt-blue eyes lit up, and I wanted to believe it was from simply seeing me, but I knew better. Hollie had this light about her, and everyone who knew her adored her—even with all the rumors around town about her family, especially her aunt and sister. It wasn’t out of the ordinary for some to claim to be witches in Salem, but with their family history dating back to the witch trials, there was just something about them that seemed to make people think they were different. Not in a bad way. The family was adored by everyone who knew them. Just in a mysterious way.
Hollie smiled a polite smile, and I wasn’t sure if it was for me or for Shawn. She had just a touch of makeup on because…well…honestly, she didn’t need to wear any at all. She was that beautiful.
We walked up to the table, and Shawn reached down, giving her a quick hug and hello. I didn’t want to admit to myself that it made my blood boil. They were friends, and it was something he’d done a thousand times before. Something was different now. Oh, he just admitted he liked her and wanted to ask her out. Yeah, that was what was different.
“Hi, Shawn. Was Lucas too afraid to come alone?” Hollie asked as she tilted her head and looked as if she wanted to stick her tongue out at me.
Shawn looked at me and laughed. “Well, Hollie, you are a bit scary, you know.”
She winked at him, and I wanted to slap the fucking smile off my best friend’s face.
“We were in a meeting together, and I invited him to have lunch with us. You don’t mind, do you?” I asked as I sat down.
Hollie flashed Shawn another bright smile. “I don’t mind at all.”
Okay. Was she flirting with him? And why in the hell couldn’t she smile at me like that?
Hollie handed me a menu. “I went ahead and ordered some scallops with bacon.”
Staring at the appetizer sitting in front of us, I couldn’t help but wonder if she had known that that was my favorite here. How would she know that, though?
“Oh, Lucas’s favorite,” Shawn said as he took one and popped the whole damn thing into his mouth.
Hollie gave me a questioning look. “Are they really?”
I nodded and placed one on the small plate in front of me. “They are indeed.”
“Huh, I didn’t know that. They’re mine too.”
All I could do was smile. I suddenly felt strange. Like I had no idea what to say or do around Hollie. Usually, I had a plethora of insults I could toss out. Not bad ones. I really did like her. Okay, I more than liked her. But I had never once been tongue-tied around her.
“Thanks for emailing me back with some of the details,” she continued. “I think a spooky, glamorous theme is the perfect way to go. From what I know about Janet, she is really into Halloween. And we know Greg loves it.”
Shawn laughed. “Greg lives for Halloween.”
We both looked over at him. He held up his hands. “Sorry, I’ll just sit over here and eat.”
“You do that,” I said as I shook my head and looked back at Hollie.
Hollie focused back on me. “So, let’s talk first about the party after the fact. Do you want it to be a sit-down dinner, or do you want it more buffet-style?”
“I think buffet-style might keep it more casual, and I’m sure that’s what Greg would want.”
She nodded and wrote it down in her notebook. “I agree. Do we have an idea of how many people will be at the event?”
“Family and close friends only. I would say, maybe thirty?”
Another nod.
“Am I getting invited?” Shawn asked.