Page 29 of Matched By Mistake
Many people had turned when they came in, and given the publicity that photo from last night had generated, she wasn’t surprised by their interest in them. But she also started to feel anxiety creeping in. It felt harder to catch her breath and she felt like she was sweating between her boobs and on her upper lip.
Fuck.
Get it together.
Surreptitiously she wiped her upper lip and forced herself to smile. She could do this. As the hostess turned to grab some menus, Jericho leaned over her shoulder and spoke directly into her ear.
At first all she was aware of was how intimately close he was as the words were whispered. “If you don’t stop looking scared, I’m going to have to distract you in a way that will set us both on fire and probably give the good people of Royal more than they were expecting from a setup couple.”
His words sent fire through her body. She turned, and he was so close her lips brushed the side of his face. “Deal.”
He nodded, once again putting his hand on the small of her back, and subtly urged her to follow the hostess. She felt his hand drifting lower as he walked next to her. They moved past the kitchen, which was on full view from the dining area. The kitchen staff were busy and she allowed herself to be distracted by them.
The hostess stopped by a table in the center of the restaurant and before she could ask if it was okay, Jericho stepped closer. “Could we have that table in the corner?”
“Uh,” the hostess stammered.
“Please,” Maggie said. “I’m sure you don’t follow gossip, but we were recently publicly matched up and a lot of people are staring, so it might be easier for us if we were over there.”
“Of course,” the hostess said. “I do know who y’all are. I think most people in Royal are just curious. Sorry I didn’t think to move y’all.”
She led them to the table that Jericho had indicated and Jericho held the chair for Maggie before seating himself. “Hope y’all enjoy your dinner.”
The hostess walked away and Maggie looked down at the menu but couldn’t read it at first. Why had she ever thought this was a good idea? She was sweating again and—
“Every time you get tense you breathe heavy and it makes your breasts move against that blousy fabric, which damn, Mags, I can’t tear my eyes from.”
She glanced up from under her eyelashes at Jericho. He was serious. He was distracting her but he was turned on by her body. “Only fair since I’ve had a hard time not staring at your shoulders in that jacket. It has to be bespoke.”
“It is. My college roommate said only restaurant managers wear off-the-rack suits to important dates.”
She started to roll her eyes until the he got to the important part. “Am I?”
“You know you are. Stop remembering the woman that man forced you to be and be the sweet, sassy Mags I’m coming to know. The one who gave me a hard-on without touching me.”
He was right. His words were the little extra push she needed to remember who she was. Maggie Del Rio. She wasn’t a woman who hid in the shadows or pretended she wasn’t attractive and it was past time she remembered that.
Interesting that it had taken Jericho Winters to remind her.
Their meal was well prepared and Maggie seemed to lose her tension as it progressed. Now that he’d been to her studio and seen her artwork, he was getting a better idea of the woman she was.
“You mentioned a college roommate. Where did you go?”
“UT. You?” he asked as he took a sip of the shiraz he’d ordered with dinner. Though normally he preferred to drink beer in the summer, wine paired better with steak.
“A&M,” she said, wriggling her eyebrows at him.
“So we’re pretty much always rivals,” he said, realizing that they were. On paper they made absolutely no sense at all. What had that app seen in the two of them or was it just a fluke?
“Seems that way. What did you study? I mean I’m sure architecture, but did you have to study any eco stuff? I don’t know the proper term for that, as I’m sure you can tell,” she said with a grin.
“Uh, I can. Yes, I studied eco-friendly manufacturing and business because I knew I wanted to have my own firm. I could always ask my brother or father for advice but that’s not really how I operated when it comes to business. They tend to get a little too vested in what I’m doing.”
“I thought you and Trey partnered on the expo center,” Maggie pointed out.
“We did,” Jericho agreed. “But it was more Trey saying we should bid for the job and that they’d hire me to be the architect.”
“I get it. That’s sort of how things are with my business and the Del Rio Group. They hire me, and I do specific graphic design and promo work for them. Also my mom had me redo all the art in the corporate offices,” Maggie said. “But it’s contracted. Like you, I don’t like too much outside input.”
