Total Rush by Deirdre Martin Page B

face that she was thinking the same thing he was.
    Gemma suddenly seemed to turn shy. “Let me think about it.”
    â€œBuy you a new smoke detector,” he said enticingly.
    She tipped her head up, smiling at him. Sean felt his heart reel in his chest. “You already promised that.”
    â€œGuess it’s time to get more creative, huh? Tell you what.” He slipped his arm around her shoulder. “How ’bout I come up with some great way to make my deception up to you, and in return you agree to have dinner with me one night?”
    â€œI’ll think about it,” Gemma said lightly, ducking out of his embrace.
    Sean grinned, shaking his head. “You’re torturing me on purpose, aren’t you?”
    â€œTorture? Moi? ”
    â€œThen say yes to dinner with me.”
    â€œI’ll think about it,” Gemma promised. “After you surprise me.”
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    The next morning , Gemma slid into her regular booth at the Happy Fork and waited for Stavros to come and harass her. She hadn’t gotten any sleep; instead, she had lain awake thinking about Sean: Sean kissing her, Sean peeling off her clothing, Sean whispering in her ear all the things he wanted to do to her. She was glad when Frankie appeared. She was bursting with the need to talk about him.
    Before she could get a word in, Stavros appeared, pouring Frankie’s coffee and then depositing an empty coffee cup in front of Gemma. He passed the steaming pot back and forth beneath her nose.
    â€œSmells good, no?”
    â€œSmells great,” Gemma concurred. “Pour me a cup.”
    Stavros and Frankie exchanged shocked glances as Stavros complied.
    â€œSugar?” he asked in a stunned voice. “Cream?”
    Gemma nodded. “Both.”
    Looking as if he might pass out, Stavros ran to fetch them for her.
    â€œIf this isn’t a sign of imminent apocalypse, I don’t know what is,” said Frankie.
    â€œNo apocalypse,” Gemma rejoined gaily. “I’m just up for trying new things.”
    Frankie caught her drift and her arm shot across the table. “Don’t start yet; here comes Stavros with your milk and cream.”
    His demeanor was now obsequious, as if Gemma were a queen whose pronouncement he awaited. She fixed her coffee and, with Stavros and Frankie both looking on intently, raised it to her lips.
    â€œWell?” he asked.
    â€œBest coffee I’ve ever tasted.”
    â€œHa!” Stavros beamed down at her knowingly. “I knew that would be your answer! Hasn’t Stavros been telling you this for years?”
    â€œYou have,” Gemma admitted.
    He waddled off looking as if he’d just won the lottery.
    â€œWhat’s going on?” Frankie demanded.
    First she told Frankie about the firefighters coming to her apartment. Then she told her about the hockey game. She finished with details of Domenica’s christening party. Frankie practically lunged across the table.
    â€œYou’ve crossed paths with this guy three times?” she said excitedly. “And he has blue eyes?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œLike in your vision?”
    â€œYup.”
    â€œYou think—?”
    â€œI don’t know.” For the first time, Gemma felt uncertain. “I want it to be. I think.” She drank some coffee. “He asked me out to dinner,” she added shyly.
    Frankie’s eyes bulged so far out she looked like a cartoon. “And you said no?”
    â€œI said maybe.”
    â€œ Maybe? Why? Because Venus isn’t in the third house of Lexus or some crap like that?” Frankie eyed her critically. “Something else is going on here. Why don’t you want to go out with this guy?”
    Gemma peered at Frankie over the rim her coffee cup. “If I tell you, do you promise not to laugh?”
    â€œNo. Now tell me.”
    â€œI think I’m a little nervous about going out with him because he’s a