Sophie, her best friend, Zoe Parrish (who was also Millie’s niece), Reggie Cooper, and Coco Phillips. The four of them had been best friends since grade school and were a couple of years older than Annie. Sophie had invited her to join them before, but Annie had always found a reason not to go, usually having to do with either work or Walter.
“You still meeting over at Bootleg Pete’s?” asked Annie.
“Eight p.m. every Thursday night. Don’t be late, or you won’t get any nachos,” Sophie teased. She put her stethoscope back in her bag, then turned to look at Sam. “Do I know you?” But before he could answer, she shook her head and laughed. “Never mind. I’m pretty sure if we’d ever met, I would have remembered.” She handed him a card. “In case you need any follow-up, here’s the number for our clinic. Just ask for Sophie Esposito. I’m the nurse practitioner.”
“Thanks.” He pocketed the card.
Sophie wasn’t flirting with Sam. And he wasn’t flirting with her. It was more like two good-looking people with a mutual awareness of one another. But something about it made Annie stiffen. Oddly, she realized, she was more jealous of this brief exchange than the outright flirting going on between Connie and Walter.
Now that the “emergency” was over, it was time to get to the bottom of this.
“So, who’s Roy?” Annie asked.
Connie pointed to Sam. “This guy right here.”
“Your name is Roy?” Why on earth would Connie think that Sam DeLuca was named Roy?
Sam shrugged. “That’s me.”
“Roy what?” Annie demanded.
“Roy Rogers.” There was no mistaking the humor in his green eyes. Roy Rogers, her ass. Annie tried not to laugh.
“Like the cowboy, right?” said Walter. “Your mom must have some sense of humor.”
“You ready for dessert?” Connie asked them.
Walter glanced at his watch. “No time. I need to head back to the office. This whole 911 thing has really put me off my schedule.”
Annie had spent all day building up the courage to break up with Walter. She couldn’t go through another twenty-four hours with her stomach twisted up in knots. She needed to make a clean break now. “But Walter, we need to talk.”
“Sorry, babe. I’ve got to put in at least three more hours tonight. I’m a partner now, remember?” He grabbed his coat jacket from their booth and pulled out his wallet. “Connie, can I get the bill?”
“No need for that,” said Sam. “Your dinner is on me.”
Annie spoke up. “Oh, but we couldn’t—”
“It’s the least I can do. Considering how your boyfriend practically saved my life.”
Right.
Walter put away his wallet. “That’s awful nice of you. Thanks, Roy.” He gave Annie a dismissive peck on the cheek. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”
Annie waited until Walter left the café to turn to confront “Roy,” but before she could ask Sam DeLuca what he was doing in Old Explorer’s Bay, he pointed toward his booth. “Care to join for me for dessert?”
“Don’t mind if I do.” She slid into the booth to sit across from him.
“Should I bring your fish over here?” asked Connie. “You’ve hardly touched it.”
She winced. “Um, could you ditch it and bring me the meat loaf instead?”
“Sure thing,” said Connie.
“So,” she began once Connie had left them alone to get her food. “Roy Rogers, huh?”
“What can I say? I’m a Bruce Willis fan.”
“Die Hard.”
“I love that movie,” they said in unison, causing them both to laugh.
“Why the fake name? Because you’re clearly not Roy Rogers, and we both know it.”
Sam leaned into the table and lowered his voice. “I’d appreciate it if you keep that to yourself. Connie recognized me the minute I walked in the door. As for the fake name, let’s just say being Sam DeLuca hasn’t been easy this past week.”
Annie could only imagine. Between the show, Twitter crashing, and his stint on the talk-show circuit, you couldn’t go online without seeing his face or reading an article about what was next for America’s most eligible bachelor.
“Nice to meet you, Sam.” She extended her hand. “I’m Annie Esposito, by the way.”
Sam shook her hand, sending a bolt of heat up her arm, straight down to her toes. Yowza. So this was instant attraction. She’d never felt it before this strongly. Not with Russell. And certainly not with Walter.
“I figured that out,” he said.
“Figured what out?”
“That you were Annie.”
“That I was …” She shook her head. “What are you doing here in Old Explorer’s Bay?”
“I have a couple of reasons. The main one is to get away