His voice dropped to that of a warning. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and my nipples hardened. Thank God I was wearing a blazer over the thin blouse I wore to work that day, or else, I’d be in trouble.
“He’s not here because he’s not relevant. To you or to me.”
I shook my head. “Don’t say things like that.”
He parted his lips but paused once our waiter brought our food to the table. I glanced down at the bowl of split pea soup I’d ordered with slices of the restaurant’s freshly made baguettes on the side. It all smelled divine, but sitting across from Robert had done something to my appetite.
My appetite for food, at least.
“You’re not eating,” he stated, nonchalantly.
I suspected he knew exactly the thoughts that were running through my head.
Just to spite him, I picked up my spoon and began eating my soup with gusto. But when I lifted my gaze to peer across the table at him, the smirk on his face read, again, that he knew he was getting to me.
“It wouldn’t work.” I shook my head.
“It’s already working.”
“We haven’t even seen each other in five years. We could be completely different people. You practically ran a multi-million dollar corporation.”
In our time apart I’d done some thinking. I’d finally settled on the conclusion that Robert and I weren’t meant to be. Yes, we’d shared a beautiful night together, but that was where it should end. We came from two entirely different worlds. For a woman like me, living the life I was living, making the money I was with the position I had in my company was practically a miracle. Few people ever made it off the mountain. Hell, I’d had a hard enough time adjusting to my life in Palo Alto and then again in Williamsport. There was no way I was ready or even willing to take a chance and enter Robert Townsend’s world.
“Stop thinking that way.”
I lifted my eyes to his again, surprised by the command in his voice. And turned on by it.
“How do you know what I’m thinking?”
“It’s written all over your face.”
I frowned. “Most people can’t read my facial expressions.” I wasn’t particularly expressive. I knew it because I’d been told more than once at my job that it was one of my professional assets. In a corporate workplace where women were often still seen as too emotional, some of my male colleagues thought it was a compliment to commend me on not being like them.
“To others. But not to me. Just one look and I know what’s going on in your head. I also know you’re thinking bullshit about not belonging in my world.”
“You don’t know me.”
He grinned. “Tell me I’m wrong and I’ll get up and walk away for good.”
“Really?” My heart rate increased.
He actually chuckled. “Fuck no. But I wanted to see what you’d say.”
That elicited a giggle from me before I rolled my eyes at my own self. “We come from two different places.”
“But we’re in the same place now. It wasn’t an accident that we ended up on the same college campus, being partnered together during our senior year, and living in the same city five years later. Mistakes like that just don’t happen, princess.”
I lowered my gaze, the butterflies in my belly fluttering from the term of endearment. Swallowing, I placed my spoon down next to my now empty soup bowl and took another sip of water while peering over the rim of the glass at him before responding. “Than what is this?”
“Fate. Destiny. Karma for something I did well in a past life. Whatever the hell you want to call it.”
Pushing out a breath, I pressed my palms to the edge of the circular table, sitting back against my chair. His gaze, his words, his entire demeanor were all so intense. I tried to fit as much space between us as I could. Not because I didn’t want to be near him. The opposite reason, actually.
“I have to get back to work,” I finally stated. I was at a loss for words. Mostly, I was so perplexed on how a man I hadn’t seen in half a decade could come in with one lunch and a few words and make me feel like he was turning my entire world upside down.
“This isn’t over,” he warned.
I didn’t say anything as he stood and then moved around the table to hold the chair out for me.
