Is this destiny?

JoAnna looked at Jules who was giving off a seductive vibe. She wondered if he is hitting on her, but then she remembered that he is an actor. People from those circles always need to maintain an image, and since he is making a living by pretending to be a heartthrob doctor on the television, this is probably his default expression.

JoAnna flashed an ambiguous smile toward Jules and focused on desserts. They looked very inviting, and she put one pink strawberry-shaped cookie in her mouth. It did taste like fresh strawberries and she liked it. JoAnna thought that she should find out who the pastry chef is so that they hire him (or her) for her wedding.

She wanted to move to her right to reach desserts on that side, but Jules was still there, and his gaze didn\'t leave JoAnna.

JoAnna cleared her throat. "Excuse me, if you are not taking any of those, do you mind moving a bit?"

Jules took one step to the right and watched JoAnna with a smirk which showed a hint of irritation. How dare she ignore him?

"It seems you don\'t know who I am." That was the only logical explanation. Or so he thought. His drama is one of top ranked currently and who will refuse to socialize with someone as popular as he is? So, the only thing that makes sense is that she does not know with whom she is talking.

JoAnna didn\'t stop her dessert-browsing while responding: "I do. You are that fake doctor on TV."

Jules frowned. \'Fake doctor?\' It\'s not like he is a doctor, but why did she call him a fake? He is an actor! ACTOR! Not a fake doctor!

"I don\'t need to be a doctor to act like one." Jules defended himself.

JoAnna glanced at him. "But you should at least know some basics if you want to be a believable one. If doctors could heal fractures with a dashing smile you would be a very good one."

Jules was not sure how to respond. How he sees it, JoAnna insulted his intelligence, and praised his looks. And why is she ignoring him and focusing on desserts?

"Jules, dear… there you are…" female voice sang from the back.

JoAnna didn\'t turn to see who it is, she didn\'t care. Maybe that female takes Jules away, so she gets full access to the right side of the dessert table without the need to ask him to move again.

"I leave you for a minute, and you wonder away…", young woman complained.

"I thought there is something sweet here, but maybe I made a mistake." Jules responded.

JoAnna could hear displeasure in his voice and looked up at him. She saw that he is looking back at her. \'Did he talk about me?\' JoAnna stifled a laugh and decided to leave rest of dessert-tasting for later. Her plate was full anyway.

JoAnna glanced in the direction where she left Jeff. He was surrounded by a group of men who were grinning at him while talking excitedly. Their eyes met and Jeff\'s lingering smile widened. She could feel that he was watching her since she left his side.

Seeing the scene in front of her… this was something new: Jeff was surrounded by obviously well-to-do men who were sucking up to him. Some of them looked twice his age or more. Age does not matter in business world, but it needs to be noted that people of older generation hold onto deep-rooted values where age matters, and younger generation needs to show respect to their seniors. It must be a hard pill to swallow for many of these older men to bow to Jeff like that. Jeff looked like a king surrounded by people begging him to be his vassals. JoAnna loved seeing him like that… confident… powerful… sexy. She was getting turned on just by looking at him. It reminded her of the beginning of their relationship when she was losing herself just by thinking of Jeff.

About ten minutes earlier…

Jeff heard JoAnna say that she wants to go and check out desserts. When she wiggled out of his hold, he knew that she wants to do it by herself, so he gave her space. He was watching JoAnna and enjoying her focused expression while she immersed herself in picking sweets and arranging them on her plate. Jeff saw young man (Jules) approach JoAnna, but he was keeping a respectable distance and didn\'t bother her, so Jeff decided not to interfere.

Back to present…

Seeing that JoAnna is now looking at him and victoriously showing plate filled with colorful deserts, Jeff thought that finally she will come back to his side and he can ditch these noisy men. He saw her smile widen and she blushed slightly. He wondered what is on her mind. To his disappointment, she put one cupcake in her mouth, winked and walked away into the crowd.

JoAnna enjoyed rich flavor of almond-vanilla mini-cupcake that she stuffed in her mouth with hope that it will distract her from lustful thoughts that were building up. She decided to look for Sarah and Aiden because if she gets anywhere near Jeff now, she will just pounce on him. JoAnna reminded herself that they came here to look for Blanca. And there are people around.

JoAnna didn\'t notice displeased Jules and his confused female companion who looked at JoAnna while she weaved her way through the people while balancing desserts on her plate.

JoAnna found Sarah at the bar.

"Where is Aiden?"

"He went upstairs to check for Blanca. She is not on this level." Sarah\'s eyes lit up at the sight of the plate JoAnna was holding.

"Upstairs?" Only then JoAnna noticed that on the side of the bar there are stairs and behind is another level.

"Hey! Get your own!" JoAnna complained, but too late. Sarah already had a mouthful of sweets and JoAnna didn\'t even see how many Sarah took!

"What do you think of this crowd?", Sarah asked after taking a sip of her drink. She was eyeing plate which still had more than ten desserts on it.

"It\'s different than in Seattle. Definitely more bling."

"And more plastic…"

"Well, there is number of actors. It\'s not unusual for them to have procedures done… Hey!" JoAnna could not believe that Sarah took another one!

"True." Sarah grinned while cupcake melted in her mouth.

JoAnna frowned and kept the plate away from Sarah. JoAnna definitely had I\'m-not-sharing expression.

"She is upstairs", Aiden\'s voice was muffled and to JoAnna\'s horror a cookie went into his mouth!

JoAnna counted desserts remaining in the plate, only to see that he took two! That explains muffled voice, he already took one before that cookie. She felt like crying. How will she know now which ones she tasted and which ones she didn\'t?

"These are good." Aiden commented with a huge grin and took another one.

Sarah laughed seeing how oblivious he is toward JoAnna\'s outrage. She finds it super-cute how Aiden\'s personality changes when he is around good food. Or when he is hungry. Sarah is confident that if anyone wants to seduce him, it needs to happen during a succulent meal. This thought got her upset. Will Aiden give himself away in exchange for a good meal? She hopes not. Sarah can cook, but that is not one of her strengths.. Seeing how food is important to Aiden, Sarah decided to put an effort into cooking. Maybe enroll into some cooking classes?