Page 75 of It's Not PMS, It's You

So far, so good.

I took a sip of my tea and—

“You took my advice,” Nick said from behind me.

I sprayed my tea across the table. “Son of a nutcracker!” I stood and slammed my knee into the table, reaching for the napkins and wiping up the tea. “Look what you did!”

“Look whatIdid? Hey, I consider myself to be talented in many ways, but I assure you it would be impossible for me to spit something out ofyourmouth.”

“You know what I mean. You scared the crap out of me.” I walked around to Edward’s chair and wiped it dry. “Andwhatare you doing here?”

“Eating.”

“I can see that, but—” I glanced toward the bathroom to make sure Edward wasn’t coming back, and then tried to keep my voice down. “Why are you herenow? You planned this?”

“Of course.”

“You admit it!”

“Yes. I admit to being hungry and then deciding to come to one of my favorite places to eat, especially since I was warned yesterday by a brutal dictator that I shouldn’t skip lunch.”

“You recommended this place for my date and then showed up to spy on me.”

Nick looked calm and cool like the most annoying, good-looking cucumber I’ve ever seen. “And why would I show my face if I were spying on you? That really defeats the purpose ofspying, don’t you think?”

I really didn’t know how to respond to that.

“You never told me when your date was. Dee said nothing about it in her text. It could have been next week or next month for all I knew. Do you think I just planned on eating here every day until you showed up?”

“Maybe!”

He pointed toward the bathroom. “Here comes your date. Good luck.”

“Oh!” I quickly sat back down and waited for Edward.

Luckily, he was distracted as he stopped to say hello to one of the sushi chefs. I was relieved he hadn’t seen me talking to Nick. But how was I supposed to act natural and be myself knowing that Nick was seated directly behind me, listening to every word?

It’s no big deal. Just pretend Nick isn’t here.

I forced a smile at Edward as he returned and took a seat across from me.

I took a sip of my tea, ready for small talk.

He gestured back over his shoulder with his thumb. “You wouldn’tbelievethe bathrooms here. Top of the line and modern with the perfect balance of porcelain and tile, well-lit, and a urinal so clean you could drink your tea out of it.”

Ewww!

I almost sprayed the tea out of my mouth again.

Nick snorted behind me.

Edward folded his hands on the table. “According to your profile, you do corporate takeovers?”

I nodded, glad we weren’t going to talk about urinals anymore. “I do.”

“Very admirable. I have a lot of respect for women who are go-getters like yourself.” He paused, like he wanted me to respond.

“Thank you. That’s what I do. I go and I . . . get.”