Dear Mister Summers

thirteen

Scarlet invaded Andin's face. Her eyes widened, then her lids dropped, hiding her expression. She moved quickly into the kitchen and without thinking picked up ice cream from the fridge. She carried it into the sitting room and placed it on a mat in the center of the table. Damon was finding bowls while Tanner was looking for cutleries. In less than five minutes, the ice cream was served.

"No comment, then?" Damon asked at last.

"Your imagination runs riot," Andin said without looking at him or Tanner.

"Darling, just because you yourself have never noticed your sensitivity to Sebastian Freaking Summers it does not mean you have learned to hide it from everyone else," Damon told her frankly. "I knew the first time I saw you together. You admitted years ago that he liked you."

"I did not say that!' Andin denied.

"You said he wanted to date you," Damon said flatly.

"He was only asking me to go out with him for a dinner once upon a time. Back when I had only been working for him for a month or two," argued Andin as she began to take a spoonful of vanilla ice cream and had to hold back to avoid brain freeze.

"I am not sure why you keep on denying this." Damon heavily sighed. "Don't forget, I have seen him look at you the other night. He makes no secret of the way he feels."

"Oh, for goodness sake!" Andin said frustratedly. "Sebastian flirts with every woman he meets. Trust me, I know. I have seen him in action every day. How many beautiful women do you think he has been to bed with? I doubt if even he can remember. Do you think I am going to be a forgotten name in his contact, one of the never-ending list who fell for him, those who could not resist him?" Her voice rose, bitterness threaded through it.

Damon exchanged a look with Tanner one more time, then simply looked at her with a strange expression. "So you made up your mind to be the one girl he can not forget, the one who got away?" he asked shrewdly.

For a moment Andin looked stunned then a weary smile crossed her lips. "Something like that," she admitted huskily.

Damon made a face. "I hope you get away with it," he said, beginning to eat his ice cream. "Oh, this is a dream." He took one spoonful and put it in front of Tanner. "Come on, babe. I know you do not like sweet stuff because you are trying to save your figure before the wedding but let me assure you that I love you even if you look horrible in our wedding photos so go for it."

Tanner rolled his eyes but succumbed to the temptation and savored the ice cream.

"What do you mean," Andin pursued, 'you hope I get away with it, Dee?"

Damon swallowed his mouthful and then licked his bottom lip. "You are walking a tightrope, Andin mia Bella," he said gently.

"But I do not like Sebastian," Andin protested, staring at her friend. "I really do not." Although she had said so, she knew deep down inside that she had feelings for her boss. Yet she simply could not bring herself to admit it out in the open.

"Okay, maybe you do not," Damon conceded. "But I know you, darling, and I can tell that you are very attracted to him — far more than you would like to admit. When you are with Sebastian you are on edge the whole time, as tense as a bowstring. If he touches you, you jump. And I can tell during the entire evening when we were at his party that no matter what you were doing, talking or dancing with me, you could always tell where he was. You always paid attention to him more than you would care to admit, even to yourself. I would have to be deaf, dumb, and blind not to see how aware you are of him."

The accusation left Andin completely speechless. She pushed her bowl away, her ice cream did not look as appetizing any longer. After a pause, she said lamely, "So, about your wedding?"