Chapter 15
“You’d think by now I’d be able to see it coming,” Lucky grumbled, sitting down at the table.
“See what coming?” Liz asked.
“My dad and his stupid schemes. As soon as he got on that stage to pull the names, I should have known.”
“Well, no use complaining now. It’s too late to do anything about it. Look, it’s only dinner, I think we can manage to make it through without killing one another.”
“You’re right. Let’s just eat, and get this thing over with,” Lucky said, picking up the menu as Liz looked over at Jason’s table, trying to fight the jealousy she was feeling. She always suspected that he was still in love with Carly, but she never asked him out-right about it, because deep down, she was afraid of the answer. Jason never lied to her, no matter what, and in this case, she had a feeling she would rather not hear the truth
~*~
“I guess it could be worse. I could be sitting across from Tony right now,” Carly sighed, looking over the menu in front of her in an attempt to avoid facing Jason. He still had a way of looking at her that sent shivers down her spine.
“Thanks, I think. Remind me later to kill Liz,” he muttered. Carly smiled. She could still tell when he was joking, even though no one else usually could.
“Well, that might be hard, because later is probably when Sonny will be killing me. You couldn’t see the look on his face from where you were when Luke read Alexis’s name. Oh my gosh, I thought he was going to explode!” She glanced over at their table and chuckled.
Following her gaze, Jason smiled slightly. “I don’t know, I always thought they had a kind of chemistry between them.”
Carly glared at him. “Chemistry? What is that supposed to mean?”
“Hey, hey, don’t get all jealous on me now. I didn’t mean anything by it. Anyway, Alexis has chemistry with everyone. Don’t worry, Sonny’s not going to leave you for her, she was married to Jax, remember?”
“Yeah, well, so was Brenda, but that never stopped him,” Carly muttered, looking over at them again.
~*~
“If looks could kill, I’d be Katherine Bell right now,” Alexis muttered sarcastically.
“Excuse me?” Sonny asked, still trying to figure out how to make it through dinner.
“Carly keeps glaring at me. You don’t think she’s actually jealous, do you? I mean, come on, I’m the last person she needs to worry about!”
“Yeah, well, Carly’s kind of insecure sometimes.” He glanced over as Carly looked away, noticing the way Jason was staring at her. He recognized that look, and he didn’t like it at all. Could Jason still be in love with her?
“Are you okay?” Alexis asked, trying to get Sonny’s attention.
“Hm? Oh, yeah, I’m fine. Let’s just order and get this over with.”
“Sounds like a plan to me!” she said, picking up her menu. She scanned the items for a minute, then let her eyes wander over to Jax’s table. Ever since their divorce, she sometimes found herself missing him and his family. She may not have been in love with him, but she did love being a Jacks.
~*~
V sighed as she looked at the menu. “Well, it looks like we got lucky tonight. I mean, most of these people are stuck with people they hate.”
“Yeah, you’re right. I couldn’t think of a better person to share my evening with,” Jax answered, smiling at her warmly.
“Not even Chloe?” she asked, raising an eyebrow questioningly.
Jax glanced over at Chloe and Taggert and chuckled. “Nah, I’m sure she’s having a ball with the Lieutenant over there.” His eyes traveled around the room and fell on a strange man who seemed very intent on V. “I think you have an admirer.”
“What?” she asked, getting all flustered. “You must be mistaken!”
“Nope, there’s a young man at one of the tables over there who keeps looking over here, and I somehow doubt he’s looking at me,” Jax said with a smirk.
“How can you be so sure? I mean, you’re a good-looking guy, who knows?” she asked jokingly, turning her head to see who he was talking about.
~*~
“Rich, you’re going to get whiplash if you keep staring at that woman! Anyway, she looked way too happy to be eating with that guy, so you might as well give it up,” Charisma said, throwing a hunk of bread at him to get his attention.
“Hey, watch it! What do you care who I look at? Anyway, that guy looks like your type. Maybe we can team up and get both of them.”
She groaned and picked up her menu. “I’m not here to troll for men. We came here for Spence, remember?”
“Right. So, how’s he holding up? I can’t see him from where I’m sitting.”
Charisma chuckled. “You shouldn’t be able to see that woman either, but it hasn’t stopped you! Anyway, him and Liz are just ignoring each other right now. But, sooner or later, they’ll have to order, and then they won’t have their menus to hide behind!”
“I like the way you think, little lady!” a voice spoke from behind her, causing her to jump. She spun around and eyed the man.
“Excuse me?”
“I’m sorry if I startled you, but I couldn’t help hearing what you just said.” He stuck out his hand and grinned. “Luke Spencer, Lucky’s old man.”
She grinned and shook his hand. “I’m Charisma, and this is Rich. We’re his managers. It’s nice to finally meet you, Mr. Spencer.”
“Something tells me the pleasure is going to be all mine,” Luke drawled, his eyes twinkling mischievously. “So, what do you think of those two?”
Charisma glanced over at Lucky’s table and smiled. “Let’s just say I’ve got a vibe about them. There’s way too much animosity between them to be real. I think deep down, they’ve got it bad for each other.”
Luke chuckled, clapping her on the back. “Oh yes, we’re going to get along just fine, you and me!”
~*~
The waiter took their orders, along with their menus. Liz sighed, staring down at her napkin uncomfortably. “Is it over yet?”
“Don’t I wish!” Lucky said, rolling his eyes. “Something tells me this is going to be the longest dinner I’ve ever eaten.”
Liz stole another glance at Jason. He was gazing intently at Carly, and her heart sank. Lucky saw her expression and turned to see what she was looking at. He frowned, then turned back to her.
“Hey, don’t worry about them. Carly’s with Sonny, remember?”
Liz nodded. “I know, but sometimes I worry that they still love each other, you know? I mean, they have a child together, they were married once. It’s kind of hard to compete with.” She looked up at Lucky for the first time since they sat down, and their eyes locked.
“Um, yeah, I’m sure it is...” he mumbled, his thoughts suddenly scattered. He felt like her eyes were looking right into his soul, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t look away.
~*~
“Hey, hey,” Rich said, nudging Charisma. “What do we have here?”
She looked over and smiled, then turned back to Luke, who was also grinning. He had just finished telling them how he and Lucy had rigged the auction. “You are a brilliant man, you know that?”
He chuckled. “Well, don’t start planning any weddings yet. If you know my son, you know how stubborn he can be, and Liz is just as bad. This is only the beginning, and it’s going to take much more than a little dinner to get those two together!”
Charisma thought for a minute as she watched Lucky and Liz stare at one another. Suddenly, her face broke out in a smile. “I just got a great idea!”
Luke pulled up a chair and sat down, leaning closer to her. “Do tell!”
