Chapter 78
Lucky sighed and looked at his watch again, pacing anxiously in front of the front door. “Elizabeth, we’re going to be late!” he shouted up the stairs for what felt like the hundredth time.
Luke and Laura had decided to take them to a new restaurant in town, one that was more upscale than most, so they had to dress up. Elizabeth had been getting ready for hours, and he was starting to get annoyed. They had managed to convince his parents to meet them there, instead of having them come to the house first, but if Liz didn’t come down right away, they were going to be late.
“Okay, okay, hold your horses,” she grumbled loudly, quickly straightening her dress before exiting the bedroom. She had chosen a long royal blue gown with rhinestone spaghetti straps. It was made with a light material that shimmered when it caught the light. She had bought it a while back when she spotted it on sale, figuring sooner or later there would be an event or something she could wear it for. If there was one thing Port Charles was good for, it was having grand balls or galas at least every few months!
Lucky turned at the sound of her voice, ready to berate her once more for her tardiness, but as soon as he saw her standing at the top of the stairs he forgot everything he was about to say. She looked beautiful...no, beautiful didn’t come even close to describing her. Radiant, gorgeous, ethereal even.
“Hey,” he managed to say, otherwise speechless. She smiled shyly and descended the stairs, equally captivated by him. He was wearing a black silk shirt and black pants, and had his hair slicked back. As she neared him, she could smell his cologne, and it was bringing her back to the previous night, something she had hoped she could repress for the evening.
“Sorry, I was having problems with my hair,” she answered sheepishly, grabbing her coat from the closet.
“Well, you must have solved them, because it looks great,” he said with a small smile. “You look great.”
Liz stopped at the door and turned to look at him, surprised by the compliment. After all, Charisma had gone out, so there wasn’t anyone to be acting for. “Thanks. So do you.”
They exchanged another smile, then headed out to his car, wondering what the night had in store for them.
~*~
“So, what do you want us to do?” Laura asked, glancing at her watch. They had to leave soon, but Charisma had just stopped by with a plan, and they needed to hear her out before they could go.
“Well, I’m sure they’ll tell you about the tour tonight, so you’ll have to act surprised, since they don’t know I talk to you. Once the ‘shock’ wears off, suggest that Liz go with him.”
Luke frowned, thinking over the idea. “It’s a cool plan, but I don’t know if it will work. The first thing she’ll say is that she can’t leave her job for a month, and as much as I hate to say it, she’s right. Barbara and I can’t run the place for that long without her. She’s got too much at the hospital, and between my own club and my complete lack of ability to run a kitchen, the place would fall apart.”
Charisma sighed. She had a feeling this wasn’t going to be as easy as she thought. “What about a week then? It’s better than nothing.”
“A week, yeah, I think we can handle that. Which week?” Luke asked, smiling.
“I guess it doesn’t matter. Whichever one they want to do. Oh wait, no, scratch that!” She suddenly got an excited glint in her eye as she remembered something. “Make her go the first week. She can just leave with him, which is easier anyway, and she’ll be with him for the American Music Awards. It’ll be perfect, they’ll have to keep up their little act in front of the whole country!”
Luke laughed and clapped his hands. “You, little darlin’, are a genius! Does Lucky know about the awards?”
“Yeah, but he’s probably forgotten in all the confusion lately. Don’t remind him, he’ll be more likely to agree to her coming along that week.” Charisma stood up, knowing they had dinner plans to get to. “I better go so you guys can get to the restaurant. You wouldn’t want to keep the happy couple waiting.”
Luke and Laura laughed and followed her out the door, promising to call her with the details in the morning, then jumped into their car to hurry over to the restaurant.
~*~
“See?” Liz asked, elbowing Lucky as they followed the maitre’d to the table. “We beat them here. You were worried for nothing.”
“No, I wasn’t. They should have been here by now. I wonder what’s keeping them?” he asked, taking a seat next to her.
“Would you like to order your drinks now, or wait for the rest of your party?” The waiter asked politely. They exchanged a nervous look at the mention of drinks.
“Um, I’ll just have water for now,” Liz said. Lucky nodded.
“Me too.” When the waiter was gone, he laughed softly and turned to face her. “I think we learned our lesson in Vegas.”
“Oh yeah, no doubt,” she chuckled, opening her menu, trying to find something to distract herself. “Great, it’s in French.”
Lucky smiled and leaned over to read it, their shoulders pressing together. “Let me see.”
“You know French?” she asked, momentarily thrown by how close he was all of a sudden.
He nodded, still looking at the menu. “Yeah, I did a European tour a few years ago and took some lessons before-hand so I wouldn’t feel like a total idiot. What kind of food are you looking for?”
“Um, chicken’s good, I guess.” She glanced nervously over at him as he studied the menu.
“Okay, that’s easy. Anything that says poulet is chicken. Here, how about that one?” He pointed to one, and she leaned closer to read it.
“Cordon Bleu, I think I’ve heard of that before. What’s in it?”
“Chicken and ham with melted Swiss cheese. It says it comes with a salad, baked potato and the vegetable of the day.”
“That sounds good. I guess I’ll have that, then. Thanks.” She turned and smiled slightly at him, grateful for his help. He returned her smile, gently resting his hand on hers, not even aware he was doing it.
“No problem. I’m just glad I remembered enough to understand the menu. It’s been a while since I’ve actually had to use it.”
Liz swallowed nervously, her pulse quickening as his hand warmed hers, wondering what was going on with her, if Alexis was right after all about getting confused the longer they kept up this charade.
Suddenly realizing what he was doing, Lucky quickly removed his hand and cleared his throat, tearing his eyes away from her and picking up his own menu. “Um, I guess I better figure out what I’m going to have.”
The moment broken, Liz let out a small sigh of relief and reached for her water, trying to ignore the fact that her hand was trembling. This was going to be a long night.
~*~
“Did you just see that?” Luke asked with a small smirk, standing at the hostess station with Laura.
“Oh yeah, how could I miss it?” She turned and smiled up at him, thinking that maybe his crazy schemes had actually started to work after all.
“Yep, we’re breaking them down all right. Come on, let’s shake things up a bit.” He grabbed her hand and they walked over to the table, smiling at the couple as they looked up from their menus.
