Connor nodded and smiled. “I understand. Can’t blame a guy for trying, though.”
Lisa smiled at him and nodded. She had really hoped that when she had dinner with Tristan tomorrow night, she would be able to tell him she had met someone, but now she was worried that seeing Tristan again would stir up old feelings, and she didn't know how to deal with that.
Chapter 13
“Thanks for accepting my invitation,” Tristan said as he and Lisa sat down in the restaurant. “I know you didn’t have to, and I wouldn't have blamed you one bit if you’d said no.”
Lisa looked at him and smiled. “Let’s put the past in the past, Tristan, and just move on.”
“I’d like that,” Tristan said. “So are you seeing anyone?”
Lisa took a deep breath and pursed her lips. “I guess you could say I was, but it’s over now.”
"Oh, no. What happened?”
“He’s moving to Switzerland. He wanted me to go with him, but I don't know him well enough, and it would be too risky," Lisa said, taking a sip of her water.
The waiter came to take their order and bring the bottle of wine that Tristan had ordered.
Raising up his glass after the waiter had poured the wine, Tristan looked at Lisa. “To friendship.”
Lisa smiled and touched her glass to his. “To friendship.” She wanted so much to believe that she and Tristan could be friends, but as they sat there and talked and laughed, it was evident that they were more than just friends.
“Feel like a walk down by the pier?” Tristan asked as they walked out of the restaurant after enjoying a delicious meal. "I've enjoyed myself so much; I don't want the night to end so soon.”
Lisa inhaled the balmy evening breeze. “That sounds perfect. Maybe if you behave, I’ll buy you an ice cream,” she joked with a grin.
“You have a deal,” Tristan said. “We can go in my car, and I'll just drive you back here afterwards.”
They spent the next two hours walking along the pier, eating their ice cream, like two old friends. Conversation flowed easily, and when the night was over, Tristan drove her back to the restaurant so she could get her car.
“I really enjoyed tonight,” Tristan said, looking at her fondly. “Thanks. I really needed this, and I don’t want anything to get in between our friendship again.”
Lisa nodded. “Agreed,” she said. “Thanks for dinner. Next time it’s my treat.”
“Deal,” Tristan said, enveloping Lisa in a close embrace.
Pulling away, they stood staring at each other, smiling awkwardly until Lisa cleared her throat.
“Okay, I better go,” Lisa said, turning in the direction of her car.
“Drive safe. I’m away at a conference in Vegas for the next few days. I’ll call you when I get back. Maybe we could meet up again?” Tristan suggested.
As he drove home, Tristan thought about how enjoyable his evening had been. He had always liked Lisa and thought they had a special friendship, but it had felt different tonight. He could tell her anything, and she always listened to him. Was he missing something? All the time he had wasted with Heather, was it Lisa he should have been with?
✽✽✽
“How was your dinner date?” Fay asked Lisa when she came in that night. “You were out later than I thought you would be.”
Lisa smiled and sat down on the chair opposite Fay. “It was nice, fun, everything you could imagine. Like two old friends getting together again. We went for a walk down by the pier for ice cream after dinner.”
“Okay, so why do you have that look on your face?”
“What look?”
“The look you get when you are thinking about something.”
Lisa looked at her friend and stuck out her tongue. Laughing, she said, "I'm not thinking about anything other than what a good time I had."
“Did he kiss you?”
“Of course not,” Lisa scoffed. “We are friends. That’s all.” She ignored the heat she could feel on her face.
“Yeaaaah, right,” Fay smirked. “You have lovesick puppy eyes.”
“I do not,” Lisa huffed. “Getting involved with Tristan would be a mistake. We are better friends than anything else, and that's exactly what we will be."
“But you said …”
“I know what I said. I know I said that I had feelings for him, but I was confused. I think I was just infatuated with the life that Heather had. I like Tristan. I always have. But as a friend and nothing more.”
“Suuuurrrreeee," Fay said, standing up. “Well, I’m off to bed. Night.”
"Night," Lisa said, smiling as she sunk down in the chair. Could she and Tristan just remain friends? As much as she wanted to believe it, deep down, she doubted it.
✽✽✽
Tristan sat at the end of the bar, nursing his rum and coke. It had been a long day of sitting in seminars listening to people drone on and on, and he felt exhausted. The three-day conference had worn him out, and he was happy he was heading home in the morning. Not wanting to go up to his room just yet, he had decided to go to the bar before getting something to eat.
“Is this seat taken?” a rather attractive older woman asked, smiling at him and pointing to the barstool beside him.
“No, not at all,” Tristan said, moving his briefcase off the seat and putting it on the floor.
“I’ve been watching you. You look deep in thought sitting here,” the woman said. “You’re Tristan Darlington, aren’t you?”
“Yes. Do I know you?”
“Miranda Johnston,” she held out her hand. “I work at Paget Realty in Texas. I’m up here for the conference just like you.”
Tristan smiled as he shook her hand. “I think I recall seeing you in the back of the last seminar.”
“Hope I was awake,” Miranda laughed, snorting slightly. “I hate these things but need to keep the boss happy.”
“I know what you mean. I got picked to come because I apparently have no life,” Tristan said, laughing. “Actually, I asked to come. Needed to get away if you know what I mean.”
“I hear ya," Miranda said, ordering a gin and tonic. “So, are you trying to get some time away from the wife and kids?”
“No, newly single. Just got out of a relationship,” Tristan said, taking another sip of his drink.
“Newly divorced,” Miranda said, showing him her left hand where the tan line from a wedding ring could still be seen. “This is my third divorce, and I can't seem to get it right. I thought my last husband was my prince, but he turned out to be a frog."
“Funny how you think you know someone and then bang, they turn,” Tristan said, starting to feel the effects of the rum and coke. “Have you eaten yet?”
"Actually, no. There’s a great steakhouse around the corner. Feel like going there? Us Texas girls like our meat," she said, winking at Tristan.
“Sounds great,” Tristan said, slapping a twenty on the bar and grabbing his briefcase. “I’m just going to run this up to my room, and I'll meet you in the lobby."