When Stars Collide (Second Chance Romance #2) - Sara Furlong-Burr Page 0,34
was dressed to the nines as always.
“Hey,” I greeted him, standing up and giving him a hug. “You’re still in one piece, which means things with Jo must not have gotten too out of hand while I was gone.”
“Nah, Jo only managed to set off the smoke alarm once this time while she was frying eggs for breakfast. It was touch and go for a second, though, because this time there were actual flames involved.”
I turned to Phineas. “And you thought I was kidding.”
“It was more I’d hoped you were kidding.” Phineas stood up and extended his hand out to Peter. “You must be Peter. I’m Phineas Drake.”
Peter took Phineas’s hand. “It-It’s a pleasure to meet you,” he uncharacteristically stammered.
“I’d like to apologize to you for asking Mena to work on a weekend. I hadn’t realized you would be in town today, and I know the two of you don’t see each other very often.”
“That’s not a problem. She’ll make it up to me the next time she’s in town.” I raised my eyebrow at him. “What? I just won’t do laundry for the week prior to your visit. Consider us even, then.”
I smacked him in the arm, playfully, just as the waitress came by to take our drink orders.
“Mena has told me a lot about you. She’s quite vociferous when it comes to your weekends together. It seems like the two of you really know how to have a good time no matter where you are.”
Peter nodded. “Mena manages to make things interesting, for sure.” He glanced at me, a smile tugging at his lips.
“That she certainly does,” Phineas added.
Our waiter came to take our order. Phineas’s eyes sparkled with approval when I chose to take his suggestion and ordered the cassoulet. Peter even took a walk on the wild side, for him, anyway, and chose one of the bistro’s signature paninis.
“She must really have faith in you,” Peter said, handing his menu to our bow tie-clad waiter. “I can’t get her to try anything new.”
“I wouldn’t necessarily say that,” I muttered under my breath, barely loud enough for Peter to hear me. His cheeks flushed a bright red.
Phineas hadn’t seemed to hear anything as he reached for his phone. A persistent workaholic, he would just as soon cut off his left testicle than miss responding to an email.
“So,” I began to keep conversation flowing, “Phineas has become quite the local celebrity.”
He scoffed, “I wouldn’t necessarily say that.”
“Don’t be modest. The convention today was a solid success for the firm. You were by far the most popular speaker there. Not to mention, you’ll be hobnobbing with celebrities at the red carpet New York premiere of Soldiers of Atlantis in a few months.”
“And any success I owe to my very competent and able-bodied staff without whom I wouldn’t be able to function at nearly the same level I have been.” He gestured to me. “Mena’s something of a rising star at the office. She has a real eye for detail and can sniff out talent hidden under stacks upon stacks of rubbish. I predict a long and fruitful career with the firm, especially if we expand like I think we may be able to do next year.”
“Really? So, the expansion is a sure thing, then? Phineas, that’s wonderful.”
“It’s not a done deal yet. We’ll have to see how the next couple of months shake out.”
“This expansion, will it still be in New York?” Peter asked.
“Oh yes, of course. We’re in the middle of the action here. I couldn’t operate anywhere else or with anyone else.” Phineas smiled at me as he held up his glass of water and took a sip.
I sensed a tension in Peter so heavy that it made the air around him thick and hard to breathe.
“Peter, what do you do for a living?” Phineas asked, perhaps sensing the tension, too.
“Ah, well, I can’t say as I lead half the glamorous life as you do here. The only people I’m hobnobbing with are Chuck the set-up guy and Lori in finishing. Although, Chuck was on the local news once for packing away almost sixty hot dogs in ten minutes at our local hot dog eating contest. So, in a way, I get to work with celebrities, too.” Noticing that Phineas looked utterly confused, Peter backtracked. “I’m an assembly line worker at a plastics factory in Roanoke. It’s nothing exciting, but it pays my living expenses for now.”