So far, the evening had been enjoyable, but she wasn't there to socialize or get new meal recipes. And with dinner behind them, now seemed like a good time to address the real reason he'd asked her over tonight. “I told Ivy I'm bringing a guest to the wedding.”
“Was she okay with the late addition?”
“Bringing a fake boyfriend was her idea, so yeah, she didn't mind adding you.”
“I thought my friends came up with crazy ideas.”
Not only had she blindsided him last night with the request, but he'd answered without taking much time to think about it. He might be having second thoughts now but be too nice to say anything. If he was, she didn't blame him.
“You don't have to come. Trust me, I'd understand if you changed your mind, Duncan.”
Duncan's fingers brushed against hers as he handed her a cup, sending tingles up her arm—something she hadn't experienced in a long time. “Ask your cousin. He'll tell you that once I agree to do something, I don't turn around and change my mind.”
“I'll take your word for it.” The world could use more people like that. “I changed my hotel reservation too. Our suite has two bedrooms, each with its own bathroom on the second level, and then on the first, we have a living room area, another bathroom, and a kitchenette. We also have two balconies.”
“Sounds great. Where are we staying?”
“The Sherbrooke Caribe Beach Resort. The wedding is there too.”
Perhaps the best resort on the island, Ivy and Preston hadn't even considered anywhere else when they decided to get married in Puerto Rico.
“I stayed there once several years ago while I was there for a conference.” He took a sip from his cup as he put dessert plates on the kitchen island. “We'll be more comfortable if we bring dessert into the other room.”
She didn't care where they ate dessert as long as she got some. Picking up the bakery boxes, she followed Duncan out of the kitchen. Heritage on the Harbor Terrace offered condos with several different floor plans, but the only difference between her living room and Duncan's was the furniture and the pictures on the walls. Even the view from the windows was the same.
“You can start eating without me. I'm going to grab my laptop from my office so we can look at flights,” Duncan said, setting down plates and his espresso.
When tiramisu was around, other desserts didn't usually exist. But the eclairs she'd also bought looked delicious. So rather than pick between the two, she added half of each to her plate and grabbed a fork.
“I didn't know you bought eclairs too.” After taking the halves she'd left behind, Duncan added a cannoli to his plate as well and sat down next to her.
“They looked too good to pass up,” Tory answered before taking a bite. “Wow. They're good. I might have to go back and get more tomorrow.”
“You can't go wrong with anything from Ambrosia. Occasionally, I stop in at lunchtime and grab a sandwich.” After helping himself to a forkful of tiramisu, he opened his laptop and logged onto the internet. “What airline are you using?”
“Delta flight 1061 out of Boston. I checked earlier. There are still some first-class seats available.” Tory's cell phone beeped as she removed her credit card from the cardholder on it. “Use this for the ticket,” she said, handing him the card. Flipping the phone over, she groaned at the name on the screen.
Duncan's fingers paused over the keyboard, and he glanced over at her rather than type. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah, just a text from Grant. He's going to be in Boston later this week on business and wants to get together next weekend.” She wasn't sure what her plans were for the weekend, but seeing Grant wasn't among them. After sending Grant a generic message telling him she had plans and couldn't see him, she picked up her fork.
“That reminds me, I made our reservations for the winery on Saturday.”
Preoccupied with other things, she'd forgotten Duncan mentioned going on their first date on Saturday. “Sounds good.”
“I was thinking about this last night. So far, the only places I've found pictures of us together are the fundraiser's website and the Providence Gazette. It is possible some might appear somewhere else, though. Your friends might find it odd that you took someone you just met at a bachelor auction on vacation.” Duncan finished booking his flight as he spoke. “And if they don't find out about that, they might ask how we met. Should we come up with a story in case someone does?”
Between wondering if Duncan would tell her he'd changed his mind tonight and whether she'd lost her mind by asking him, Tory had thought about what she should say to her friends and, more importantly, Grant when she saw him later this month.
“Already well ahead of you.”
She tried to keep things as close to the truth as possible while still making the story plausible, because while some people would accept that she'd asked a guy she'd just met to go away with her, others might not.
“If someone asks, we tell them we knew each other in high school, which is true. Then in September, when I was here looking at condos, we bumped into each other. Maybe we were both at Alec's house or something. Anyway, we spent a lot of time together the week and a half I was out here. And we decided to see where things went and did the long-distance thing until I came back last month. But because you'd already agreed to be in the auction, you couldn't back out, so I bid on you.”
Nodding, Duncan reached for his espresso. “I'm impressed. When you said you were way ahead of me, you weren't kidding. I'm fine with using that story if anyone at the wedding asks. But let's not mention Alec. He wasn't in the city at all in September. Instead, how about we ran into each other the day you looked at your condo? It easily could've happened.”
No one at the wedding would ever see Alec, so she didn't see why it mattered if they mentioned him. But if Duncan wanted to tweak their story, she'd go along with it. Since he'd been beyond cooperative so far, it was the least she could do.