“Thanks.” I smoothed my hands down my dress, fingertips hitting skin much earlier than I would’ve liked. “Are you sure this dress isn’t too short?”
“It’s short but not slutty. You’re good.” She gave me two thumbs up.
“Okay.” The bell rang, and my heart jumped. “He’s here,” I said to no one in particular.
“Open the door!” Jill yelled.
I tugged on the hem of my dress again then opened the door.
My god, he looked great. He’d aged, yes. But aged well. Very well.
“Wow,” he said as he stepped inside.
I couldn’t help smiling. “You look pretty good yourself.”
He extended his arms, welcoming me to step into them, and I did. But the hug felt a little strange. Not the way I remembered it. “It’s great to see you again,” he said as I moved out of his embrace.
“Great to see you too.”
He glanced past me, catching sight of Jill sitting on the couch, watching us. “Jill.”
“Drake. Treat my girl right this time, or I will personally kick your ass!”
He raised his hands in a sign of surrender. “I’ve made some mistakes in the past, but I’ve never repeated them.” His gaze slid to mine.
I felt my face warm. What was he trying to say? Did he think he might want to try to start over with me?
I wasn’t sure I was ready to even think about that.
I wasn’t sure he was ready to think about that either.
“I made a seven o’clock reservation,” he said as he placed a hand on the small of my back, touching me like Shane. It didn’t have the same effect. “We should get going.”
“Reservation? For coffee?” I asked as I checked to make sure I had my phone in my purse.
“I’m hoping you won’t mind joining me for dinner…? I just flew into town an hour ago. Didn’t want to grab something on the run and be late picking you up.”
“Sure. Okay.” I headed outside and down the walk. There was a Mercedes parked in my driveway. Years ago, when we’d been dating, Drake had driven a rusty old Ford. “Wow,” I said as he pulled open the door for me. “Looks like things have been going well for you.”
“Very well,” he said. He shut the door, circled the car and folded his beefy frame into the driver’s seat. “I started my own business, have been living and breathing work since we broke up.” His gaze met mine. “I wasn’t lying when I said I needed some time to get my life together. I meant it. And I spent every day working my ass off to do just that.”
“So, it wasn’t a line,” I said in a joking tone. The fact was I’d convinced myself it was a lie when he’d said it. An excuse to dump me for someone else.
“It was the honest truth,” he said, looking sincere. “When I contacted you again, a couple of years after we broke up, I was so...disappointed to hear you were involved with someone else. I figured I’d lost my chance.”
He started the car and the engine purred like a big jungle cat, like Shane’s car. It accelerated smoothly as he steered it down my road toward the intersection. “What about you? How have things been?”
“Well, overall okay. Mom died.”
Driving, he flicked a glance my way. “Oh. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. You know we were never close.” I played with the strap of my purse.
“I do remember that. But I’m still sorry. I’m sure you grieved.”
“I guess I did in my own way.”
“Everything else is okay?”
“Sure,” I lied. It wasn’t the time or place to mention the fact that I’d just lost my job and was maybe a month or two away from foreclosure. I’d fallen a little behind on my mortgage before I’d lost my job, thanks to the added burden of keeping up Mom’s place. The inflow of cash from Shane had allowed me to get out from under that sinking ship, but hadn’t been enough to get my payments caught up.
As we pulled up to a light, he slid his hand under mine and lifted it. “No ring?”
“No ring.” I added, “What about you?”
“No ring here either. It’s been six months since the divorce was final.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m not. It was an amicable split. Julie and I just weren’t right for each other.” He smiled, reminding me why I’d fallen so hard for him years ago. His smile was nearly as arresting as Shane’s. Nearly. “I’m glad we got in touch,” he said as he wove his fingers between mine.
“Me too,” I admitted. Unlike him, I was warring with conflicting feelings. I was glad to see him. He looked great. And I could see he’d spent our time apart accomplishing something really important. But when he touched me, I felt a little uncomfortable. Kind of…guilty. Like I was doing something wrong.
That irritated me. A lot.
I wasn’t doing anything wrong.
There was no commitment between Shane and me. He was having dinner with other people. I could too.
Could, yes. But that was one thing I’d never done. I’d never gone out with one man when I was seeing another. Not for dinner. Not even for coffee.
Tightening my hold on Drake’s hand, I studied his profile while he drove. He was every bit as handsome as Shane. Younger, yes. But just as sexy. Just as strong. And, from the looks of it, maybe just as successful too.
My body did respond to his touch, especially when his thumb dragged across the top of my hand. But it wasn’t the same as it was with Shane. Shane could merely look at me, and I was tight and hot and wet.
Give Drake a chance. What do you have to lose? Not even Shane is confident the thing with him can work.
We turned into the parking lot for Delo’s, the same place I’d gone with Jill. The same place I’d seen Shane with that witch from the party.
We held hands as we walked inside. I let go when we stepped up to the hostess’ stand. And my gaze went right to the table where I’d seen Shane as we followed her to our table.
Of course, he wasn’t there now. But a little stab of pain burned in my belly nonetheless.
Bastard.
We were escorted to a table in the back. Drake made a point to pull out my chair and push it in for me as I sat, then he took his seat. He gave me a long, lingering look. “It’s so great seeing you again.”
“You said that already,” I responded with a chuckle.
“I know. I figure I’ve got some ass kissing to do since I’ve been MIA for years.”