Page 1 of Set to Love

Katie and Max’s World

One

“Here you go,” I say, sliding a breadbasket onto table two.

The scent of rosemary drifts up, making my stomach growl. It’s a not-so-subtle reminder that I traded breakfast for an extra thirty minutes on the court this morning. With my recent run of luck, I need every minute of practice I can get. Unfortunately, my stomach disagrees.

“Anything else I can get you?” I ask.

“No. Thanks, Katie, I think I’ve got everything I need,” Theo Riverton says in his smooth British accent, flashing me a smile. “But I did have another question for you.”

“Sure, what’s up?”

Theo is one of my usuals. He’s an engineer at the firm around the corner and has been coming into Mamma Lina’s three times a week for as long as I’ve worked here. He’s quiet and generally keeps to himself, but over the last two years, we’ve become friends.

I’ll admit, when I first started here, I had a bit of a harmless thing for him. You can’t really blame me. Between the accent, that razor-sharp jawline, and the kind of wavy hair that looks like it was designed for a slow-motion shampoo commercial, he’s a walking modern Mr. Darcy. But that ship sailed a long time ago. These days, we’re firmly into big brother/little sister territory.

Tonight, my mission is to make sure that he and Kaori Minami finally realize they’re both on the same page. She’s the new girl at his office—the one with the glossy black hair currently at table five.

They’ve spent the last half hour failing miserably at not stealing glances at one another. I’ve lost his attention again. If I don’t stage some kind of intervention soon, they’ll probably still be staring at one another at closing time.

“Theo?” I ask, biting my lip to keep a giggle at bay.

He blinks a few times, suddenly remembering I exist. “Sorry,” he mutters, reaching for his water glass.

“You could go over and talk to her,” I say, lowering my voice.

A rare flush creeps up faintly on his cheeks. “No. It’s better if I don’t. We had a misunderstanding the other day. I’d only make it worse.”

This might be easier than I thought. “Then you have a built-in excuse. Go clear the air between you two.”

He clears his throat. “How’d your tournament go this weekend?”

I sigh, leaning against the edge of the booth for a momentary reprieve after five hours on a bad ankle.

“About as well as your trip to Amsterdam,” I say, shoulders deflating. “Horrid.”

And that’s an understatement. I lost my tennis match in straight sets, 1-6, 0-6.

Theo arches an eyebrow. “So I shouldn’t ask about the scoreline?”

“Nope.” I pop the P. “Unless you want to see me cry into your gnocchi.”

“When’s your next one?”

I hesitate. “Two weeks in Coral Bay.”

“Give me your dates as soon as you have them. I’ll come support you.”

I reach for his empty salad plate, avoiding his gaze. “You don’t have to do that. It’ll be a wasted trip. I doubt I’ll even make it out of the first round.”

Theo is always traveling for his firm. The last thing he needs is to squander one of his rare weekends off watching me double-fault my way through my match.

Theo’s brow furrows, and he sets his fork down with a deliberate clink. “Katie, we’ve talked about this. A slump happens to every athlete on the planet. You can’t give up before you step onto the court.”

“I know, I know.” I feel the tips of my ear beginning to burn. “But try telling that to my brain.”

“That’s all the more reason to let one of your biggest fans come along and support you.”