Her dark brown eyes became nearly covered by her lids as she looked downward, and she picked up her gin and tonic, taking a sip before answering.
“Gabby.”
“I know, okay?” she interjected before I could fully express my admonishment. “I just got caught up at the shelter, and you know me, once I’m there it’s so hard to leave. I end up giving out makeup tips and styling advice, interview information…”
Her many excuses trailed off as the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. A wave of awareness shot through my body. I knew this feeling. It only happened when one person was around. My eyes frantically searched, looking at the dining patrons, until they finally foundhim.
Eyes the color of perfectly brewed coffee.
Smooth, chestnut skin that always made my mouth water.
New facial hair that’d grown in over the last month.
I briefly wondered if the new beard covered his dimple when he smiled. But he wasn’t smiling just then. He was doing the same thing I was. Assessing me.
I felt the air leave my lungs as we stared one another down. The ache in my chest that’d been there for a month grew, urging me to stand up and go to him. In my periphery, I could see he was standing with two other men. I don’t know how long we remained transfixed like that. Me staring at him, and his eyes trained on me, but I felt every second of it. Our connection was far from broken. Four weeks apart had done little to sever the love I’d felt for that man.
“Yeah, it’s over between you two, all right,” Gabby stated sarcastically, looking over her shoulder.
Even her words didn’t cause me to break from Xavier’s gaze. It wasn’t until one of his dinner companions grabbed his attention and he was forced to look away that I finally pulled my eyes back to my best friend.
“Goddamn! Everyone in this restaurant felt the intensity of that stare down.”
I reached for my drink, remaining silent. I ignored my shaking hand as I brought the straw to my mouth.
Gabby raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at me. “Just a look between you two has me ready to take a cold shower. What you two have is far from over. I don’t give a damn what you say,” she added, raising her hand to cut off my protests.
I placed my hand on the table, covering the compact I’d taken out earlier and remembered the bags I had under my eyes.He probably thinks I look terrible.
“No, I think it’s over, Gab.” I tried to ignore the way my voice quaked on that confession. I stared at his back, as he and his dinner companions were escorted to a private room in the back.
****
Xavier
Damn, she looked beautiful.That was my first reaction when my eyes landed on Chanel sitting with her friend, Gabby, in the restaurant. As soon as I stepped into the restaurant, I felt a pull that I hadn’t felt in weeks. When I looked around the dining space, my gaze quickly zeroed in on the woman I hadn’t seen in twenty-nine days. Just over four weeks.
She didn’t notice me at first, which gave me time to observe her. I took in the brown short-sleeve top she wore and the bob she styled her hair in, with a deep part on the right. Her hair had grown about a half an inch or more in the time we’d been apart, now just grazing her shoulders. I also noticed her eyes. She looked like she hadn’t been sleeping well. A pang of guilt and the need to comfort her ran through my belly at the thought of her not sleeping and not taking care of herself.
“Xavier, did you hear me?”
I turned my attention to the man sitting across from me. “My bad, Isaac. What were you saying?”
Isaac was a longtime employee of mine. He was like my right hand, especially on my current project. We’d had this business dinner set up for two weeks. I’d been out of town ever since the day I left Chanel’s condo. I needed to put distance between myself and her. I was in D.C. for two weeks checking up on my businesses there, and then I spent the last two weeks working in Las Vegas. My Vegas project was a venture I’d been preparing for years and it needed my undivided attention. I tried to remember that as I sat across from Isaac, but my thoughts kept floating back to the look in Chanel’s eyes.
“I was saying, you’ve got at least ten other restaurants we could’ve eaten at and you chose this one?”
I grinned. “It’s been a while since I had sushi. I needed to check up on this place anyway.” Unlike most of my restaurants in the city of Houston, I was only a partial owner of this one. I have thirty percent equity while the remaining seventy percent was split between two other partners.
“Whatever,” Isaac grumbled. He wasn’t a fan of sushi. “But I was getting to the fact that this venture is going to be a tricky one. We need to get all the vendors and the surrounding businesses on board.”
I lifted an eyebrow and simply stared at Isaac, at the same time the waitress brought our drinks out. Once she sat them down and told us she’d return in a few minutes for our orders, I started. “You think I don’t know that? I’ve been in Vegas for two weeks shoring up support for this venture. Speaking with vendors and getting contracts signed. We’ve already got contractors giving us dates they can start.” I took a sip of my scotch.
Isaac nodded. “I’m aware. I just wanted to make sure your head was in this. You’ve seemed—and pardon me for saying this, but you’ve seemed a little out of it the last few weeks. As if your head was somewhere else.”
Isaac was one of the few employees I’d had since I owned my first sit-down restaurant. He’d been an invaluable employee when it came to scoping out business opportunities. I trusted his instincts. His honesty told me just how much I’d been off my game in the last few weeks.
“You don’t think I’m up for the challenge?”
