Valerie turned to him wide eyed. “That’s this weekend?”
“Don’t tell me you forgot.”
She placed a hand on her forehead. “Completely, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to make it.”
“Why not? You said your dad’s better. Your step-mom can handle him alone for a few days.”
Few days? “That’s right. It’s an all weekend thing, isn’t it?” She shook her head, clutching the file in her hand. “There’s no way.”
“But it’s right here in La Jolla, Val. It’s not like you’ll be out of town. If anything were to happen, you’re only minutes away. You don’t have to spend the night there.” His eyes locked on hers. “Unless you want to. I never cancelled the suite.”
Irritated by the absurd suggestion and more than tired of his uncomfortable stares, she snapped. “Don’t be ridiculous, Luke. Of course I wouldn’t be spending the night.”
He leaned against the frame of her cubicle with a sheepish smile. “Well, the offer still stands if you change your mind. But you’ll still go to seminar right?”
She picked up the keys from the desk. “I don’t know. I’ll have to talk to my dad.”
Luke filled her in quickly about the man conducting the interviews. He’d worked with him in the past so he knew about his work ethics and what he expected out of a manager. He wasn’t too worried about Valerie making a good impression. He said Valerie had one of the most important things down and that was swagger.
Valerie started to make her exit.
“It’s business attire, Val. As cute as you look in shorts and tennis shoes, don’t plan on dressing that way for the seminar.”
She could feel his eyes on her as she walked past him. Her idea about dressing down had backfired. She responded to that with nothing more than a nod. Somehow, Luke had gone from being bitter about her rejection, and getting back with Alex so soon after, to flirting again. Spending the entire weekend with him at the seminar wasn’t the greatest idea. Even if she wouldn’t be going with him, it still might encourage the behavior further.
The thing was, now that he had reminded her of it, she really wanted to go. It didn’t seem fair. With all the stress she’d been under lately, a weekend of listening to George Stone’s inspirational speeches would be bliss. Having to tell Alex about it made her think twice. It would no doubt solicit a conversation about Luke. That was something she was trying to avoid.
She’d worry about that later. Right now, she needed to get to the market. She was determined to stay on top of her dad’s health. Like it or not, she intended to keep him around for a long time. If that meant holding his hand through every meal, then so be it.
CHAPTER 29
Alex went up to check the progress of the banquet rooms set-up. They were on schedule for the wedding tomorrow still. His phone vibrated with a text on his way down.
FYI, She went to church, her office, then the market, she’s back home now.
Romero had texted him a couple of hours ago to let him know Valerie was on the move. He really began to feel somewhat underhanded. The whole thing had started for her safety. In the beginning, they’d only let him know if something was wrong. Ever since his confrontation with her at the hospital, Romero started checking in with him on her every move.
He was trying hard not to read too much into everything. But this morning she’d made it clear she couldn’t swing by the restaurant even for just a little bit. Her office was even more out of her way. Did it really take her two hours to go to the market?
As tempting as it was to shoot Romero a text asking how long she’d been at the office, Alex held off. He’d get his answers soon enough and straight from the source.
He thought about calling her but then thought better. The day he found out about her breakfasts with Luke, he waited and waited for her to mention it. No way was he having another one of those exasperating conversations with her again. This could wait until he saw her tonight.
Back downstairs, he checked in on the food. The main dish would be Birria, the Mexican version of pot roast—only a lot spicier. This was a complex dish because it had to cook slowly for 24 hours. For a wedding as large as tomorrow’s, they’d have to watch it closely.
His phone rang just as he entered the office. It was Valerie.
“Hey, sweetheart.”
“Hey, you busy?”
“No, what’s up?” He sat down in the desk chair and leaned back.
“My dad’s taking a nap and I was thinking about you.”
“You should come by.” Just thinking about what he’d do to her made him sit up straight.
“I almost did.”
“Valerie don’t tease me.” He shifted in his seat in case anyone walked in, his situation wouldn’t be so noticeable. “So, why didn’t you?”
“I felt bad. I wanted to be here at least one full day, since I’ll be gone most of the weekend.”
“Gone? You coming home?” He sat up, unashamed about how excited that made him.
“Umm, no. I have that seminar to go to. Remember I told you about it, George Stone?”
Alex sat still for a moment and then it hit him. Suddenly there were other parts of his body hard and rigid but not in a good way. “With Luke?”
“No, not with Luke.” She replied. “I might see him there, but I’m not going with him.”
“What do you mean might, Valerie? He bought the tickets together. His ass will be sitting right next to you the whole time.”