Tanya Michaels - Tempting The Best Man

With a sigh, she crumpled the card.

Shannon’s eyebrows shot skyward. “Dare I ask?”

“I want to discuss my date with Daniel about as much as you want to discuss your progress with Paige.”

“Wow. That bad, huh?”

“Any messages?” Mia asked, officially changing the subject.

They discussed clients and the day’s schedule while Mia fixed her own cup of coffee, although she doubted caffeine was a good idea given her already antsy state of mind. She needed to call Penelope Wainwright this morning, and she needed to be at her most professional when she spoke to the affluent woman. No sense sniping at their biggest client or sounding scattered because she was busy trying to decipher a bouquet of flowers.

Shannon returned to her desk, nodding at the arrangement. “Do you want these in your office?”

“No. Find a place for them out here that isn’t inconvenient for you. They brighten up the lobby.”

“Got it.” She hesitated, her expression apologetic. “Do you want me to put him through or take a message if he calls?”

She thought about his withdrawn manner, the perfunctory message on the card. “He won’t.”

* * *

GLANCING FROM THE stack of tests on his desk to the clock on the wall, Daniel felt a tug of dread in the pit of his stomach. “You have officially overextended yourself,” he muttered. In addition to the classes he taught and the articles he was scheduled to publish this year, he’d signed on for some extra volunteer activities, hoping they’d help him stand out as a tenure candidate. He was the faculty advisor for two student clubs and was serving on the curriculum review committee which met every Wednesday. In ten minutes, as a matter of fact.

Grade faster.

When his office phone rang, his first impulse was to let the call go to voice mail. He didn’t have time to talk to anyone. But what if it was Mia? She should’ve received the flowers by now, so she could be calling to thank him.

He grabbed for the phone, almost fumbling the receiver. “Professor Keegan speaking.”

“Daniel?”

“Felicity.” He was shocked to hear her voice; he was also a little stunned to realize she hadn’t even crossed his mind in the past two days. His thoughts had been too full of Mia. “How are you? Wait, I should let you know, I have a meeting to get to in a few minutes.” When he abruptly ended the call, he didn’t want her to take it personally.

“I’m fine, thanks. And this won’t take long. I just wanted to let you know I won’t be at the wedding this weekend. I RSVPed yes before the holidays, but obviously that was when I’d planned to be your date.”

“Felicity, you don’t have to cancel because of me.” Running into her was no longer the awkward proposition it would have been a week ago. Not just because he’d gone out with someone else but because his response to Mia had helped demonstrate that his relationship with Felicity had lacked passion. “Eli and Bex are your friends, too.” The four of them had double-dated often, spent holiday weekends together, celebrated promotions and other milestones.

“And I wish them every happiness. It’s Rebekah’s big day. I want her to be able to focus on that, not worried about any confrontations between us.”

He almost laughed. Neither he nor Felicity were the type for angry confrontations. “I trust us to be cordial. Maybe even friends, eventually.” Down the road, once his pride had fully recovered and he was no longer worried that friendship between them would give their manipulative families false hope. “After all, we’ve known each other for most of our lives.”

“Friends,” she echoed. “Then you aren’t mad at me for breaking up with you?”

“No. I wish you’d told me sooner that you were unhappy, but I’m not mad.”

“I...” She chose her words carefully, haltingly. “I wasn’t unhappy, exactly. I care a lot about you. We had a very comfortable relationship built on mutual respect. It just...wasn’t enough.”

“Yeah. I get that.” His scandal-phobic family, still reeling from the antics of his infamous uncle, had always encouraged Daniel to live a muted existence, but why should Felicity settle for that? Why should I? “Look, I really have to get to this meeting, but please know that you’re welcome at the wedding if you change your mind.”

“Thank you.”

He hung up the phone thinking half a dozen things at once—from wondering whether he’d convinced her to attend the wedding to being relieved that hearing her voice hadn’t hurt. But his strongest reaction was disappointment that it hadn’t been Mia on the other end. He made himself a deal as he caught the elevator downstairs: if Mia hadn’t gotten in touch by the time his committee meeting ended, he would call her.

They’d had a lot of fun during dinner the other night. Yes, he’d screwed up the last twenty minutes of the date, but if Eli was right about flowers smoothing over social gaffes, maybe Mia would be willing to see him again.

Curriculum meetings were long and boring. Daniel usually resented the intrusion on his schedule. But leaning back in his chair and imagining the best-case scenarios of his upcoming conversation with Mia made it the most enjoyable hour of his day.

* * *

AS IT TURNED OUT, Shannon needn’t have worried about what to do if Daniel called the office phone because he called Mia’s cell phone directly. When she saw his name on the caller display, she briefly considered ignoring him to continue the email she was typing. Avoidance is the coward’s way out.

With a sigh, she hit the accept button. “Hello,” she said flatly.

“Hi. It’s Daniel. I, uh... Did you get the flowers I sent?”

“I did.” What she didn’t get was why. What were they supposed to accomplish? “They add a nice splash of color to the office.”

“Good.”

A long pause stretched between them, an almost expectant silence. If she’d opened solitaire on her computer, she could be halfway through a game by now. “Thank you for the flowers, Daniel.” Was that why he’d called, to give her the opportunity to express socially mandated gratitude? If so, mission accomplished. Now he could go away. “But I have a lot to do and—”

“I meant what I said in the card,” he blurted. “I really am sorry.”

She rolled her chair away from the desk and stood, agitated enough to pace. “Sorry for what, specifically?” If he said he regretted kissing her, she was hanging up on him.

“For my loss of control. We had a great evening, until I mauled you in a public place. Not even a romantic place—a parking lot overlooking the street.”

Though she might tout the importance of ambience to her clients, in Mia’s opinion, geography wasn’t what made a moment romantic. She and Daniel had created their own mood.

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