“I’m excited to meet him,” Lauren said. She was feeling so many different emotions. This morning, she’d told her mother that when she met a guy who knocked her socks off, blew her away, she’d tell her. Lauren was pretty darn sure she’d just met that guy, and even better, she knew he felt the same. Actually, she’d known that she had met him the second he’d entered Razzle Dazzle.

“He’s a piece of work, that’s all I’m saying,” John said, a grin on his face. “Speaking of which, I better get back to the cockpit and get this biographer to Seattle safely because something tells me we’re going to be seeing a lot of one another in the future.” He looked at her, and once again, she turned to mush.

“Yes, and I’d best let Lauren rest,” Felicia said. “We’ll be landing soon.” She hurried out of the room with the tray and empty soda cans.

“Thanks for the Coke,” Lauren called out to her.

“So, you’re good with this?” John asked.

“This what?”

“Us,” he said.

Lauren knew that he felt whatever it was she was feeling. This was a knock-your-socks-off moment, or love at first sight. Whatever one called it, she would meet it head-on. “Yes. I’m good with us,” she said, knowing these words were about to change her life forever.

“Then let’s seal the deal,” he said, and once again pulled her into his arms, touched his lips to hers, and sealed the deal of a lifetime.

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Lauren spent the night at a luxurious penthouse apartment owned by Mr. Giampalo. She’d slept like a baby and was wide-awake at 3:00 A.M. With the time difference, she’d expected to awaken at the crack of dawn.

A limousine would take her to Giampalo’s office at 9:00. When she’d left Fallen Springs yesterday, no way would she have guessed how her evening would end. She and John went to dinner at Bisato. He was the perfect gentleman. She, on the other hand, wanted to devour him. He was so handsome, so sexy, it hurt to look at him. She was a little disappointed when he declined her offer to have coffee in his father’s penthouse.

This wasn’t her usual mode. She couldn’t help herself. This man, this kind, sexy man who collected music boxes adored her as much as she adored him. She was hesitant to use the L word, but who was she kidding? She knew she was falling madly, deeply in love with this man. She was not a naïve young girl. She’d been in serious relationships before. But nothing had ever come close to how she was feeling about him.