After checking in at the hostess stand, they were seated outside by the railings. The restaurant was busy, but not as busy as it typically was during the tourist season.
Eliza sat across from Carter, thankful for the sunglasses that allowed her to discreetly watch his impact on the females nearby. She saw the double takes, the flirtatious smiles they sent in his direction, but she also noted he seemed completely oblivious.
How was that possible?
A waiter brought their drinks and took their order, and as he walked away, Eliza found herself bearing the brunt of Carter's intense gaze. He'd shoved his sunglasses atop his head since they were beneath the restaurant's cover, and his attention fixated entirely on her. She lifted a hand and smoothed it over her hair.
"It's perfect."
She sucked in a soft breath and sank her teeth into her lower lip, hard.
Carter cleared his throat and braced his elbows on the table.
"So, show me those designs."
"Of course." She grabbed the binder she'd carried from the boat and shifted sideways in her seat to place it in the chair beside her. She unlocked the rings and handed him a plastic-encased sheet of paper. "I have a lot of ideas in here, but something I'd very much like to incorporate is water. Fountains, waterfalls, maybe even a stream? Something amazing."
He whistled softly, eyeing the images. "Wouldn't be cheap."
"I realize that. But the clientele I'm going after wouldn't blink at the cost."
He smiled at her, and she felt her breath catch in her throat at the impact. The kiss last night had… rocked her. Her thoughts on Carter, on dating and relationships, everything. Especially when added to Marsali's CliffsNotes from her book. But so long as she was careful, conscious of every slow step…
"You are the only person I know who could pull off a wedding like this," he said. "These are amazing, Eliza."
What was amazing was his support. When she'd mentioned a water element to James a year or so ago, he'd told her she was crazy. "Well, I'm not sure how many wedding planners you know but… thanks."
"You're welcome. What else do you have in there?"
They spent the next fifteen minutes going over various items and ideas before their food arrived. Eliza sat forward, too excited to eat. "Do you really think you can make some of that a reality?"
"It will take some ingenuity to work around the sites and make it adjustable to wherever you might need it placed, but yeah. I've got some ideas on how to make it happen."
"Well, weddings of that nature would require a year's planning, minimum."
"There could be permits or special licensing involved, so that's good."
Eliza stared at Carter as he bit into the burger he'd ordered, his jaw flexing with every bite. "I… heard you had a visitor last week."
Carter swallowed the bite and nodded.
"Yeah. I did. You don't need to worry about it, though. I set him straight."
"He had no right to come to your jobsite."
"Agreed. But since I didn't return his calls, he decided to make a special trip."
Eliza shook her head at Carter's words. James really was a piece of work. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I think your ex is realizing what a mistake he's made."
"Meaning?"
"He wanted to warn me away from you."
She blinked at the comment. "I thought he tried to hire you?"
Carter tilted his head to the side. "He mentioned working together, too. But he was really there to issue a warning."
"Oh, my— He's with Clarissa."
Carter leaned his elbows on the table again and stared at her over his clasped hands. "Does it matter to you if he is or isn't? Are you still hung up on him?"
Matter to her? Hung up on James? The man had tried to destroy her. "No, it doesn't. Not in a romantic sense. Anyone who would stoop so low as to… I see what he was now."
Carter leaned back and picked up his burger. "Good."
Good? That was it? "What did you say to James? When he… said whatever he said?"
Carter hesitated and seemed to be choosing his words carefully.
"I told him that whatever happened between you and me was none of his concern."
"And?" Because she so knew there was more.
"I may have called him stupid for treating you the way he did, and… told him how glad I am that you're free to pursue."
The next question stalled on her lips before she finally forced it out. "Pursue? You just said that to rub James's nose in the mess he's made, right?"
"You sure you want the answer to that?"
She flicked her tongue over her lips to wet them, her stomach a bundle of nerves and lungs barely doing the job as she tried to breathe whilst staring into Carter's slate gaze.
Something had sparked inside of her last night with the kiss they'd exchanged. Something that loosed the tight grip she had on her fear and opened her heart to the possibilities, terrifying though it was. But she and Marsali had talked into the wee hours of the morning, discussing dating dos and don'ts and how to handle the baggage of previous relationships. In Marsali's words, Eliza couldn't hold Carter responsible for something he hadn't done, just because her family—and James— had a history of it. "I'm sure."
Several long seconds passed before he inhaled and sat forward.
"I don't want to say something that'll scare you away."
She didn't want him to, either, but at the same time, she had to know. He'd expressed an interest in her before. She knew that. But she'd brushed it off and shut him down and now… well, she needed to hear it again. Because one of the things most damaged by betrayal was self-confidence, and she had to own that as a flaw. "Tell me anyway."
He inhaled and sat back in his seat, never taking his eyes off of her. "You're beautiful, smart. Gracious. Sweet. But then there are times when your eyes flash a certain way and I see pure orneriness," he said with a small grin. "And I want to grab you up and kiss you so you use it on me."
A soft laugh left her, and she felt heat soaring into her cheeks. "I see." And truthfully? She felt the same way about him, wishing at times he'd follow through and overcome her fears by making her forget her senses.
Like the kiss last night did.
"Sweetheart," he said, lowering his voice, "you might not know me well enough yet, but I'm a one-woman man."
"It's… hard to trust someone after that's been done to you."
"I know."
"And then I look at you, and I see the way other women look at you—"
"What other women? Because the only one I see is you."
"How's the food? Can I get you anything else?" the waiter asked.
Eliza blinked at the intrusion and shook her head while Carter told the young man that the food was great. Once the waiter walked away, Eliza straightened in her seat. "What about our… business dealings? If we allow things to get personal, it could mess everything up."
"It could. If we let it. But who says something's going to go wrong?"
The air left her lungs in a gush. "That's unrealistic."
"Every relationship has issues. Arguments. But if the commitment is there, they're just arguments. It doesn't always have to be the end, Eliza."
She lowered her gaze to the grilled salmon salad in front of her and finally picked up her fork. "This looks delicious, doesn't it?"