“Then get dressed and let me finish getting ready.” I pushed his chest, leaning into it when he wouldn’t budge.
“Fine,” he sighed. “Should I dress up if you look like that?”
“No. Just giving this dress a night out. Move. I’m starving.”
“I’m going,” he grumbled, his eyes never leaving mine until he shut the door.
I turned my head and checked out the back of my dress in the mirror. New me was doing all right for herself, and it was time to give her a little credit.
When we sat down to dinner, we were back to us, mostly. Landon wore a gray Henley and black jeans, and I appreciated the stretch across his chest every time he shifted in his seat. Considering how nervous I was to talk to him tonight, the conversation was easy.
Maybe because we talked about everything except how much in love I realized I was with him and how I needed to know if he either felt the same way or if we were just in a lust spiral. By the time our meals were almost done, I’d already chickened out and resolved to wait to tell him until after we went back to my house, not wanting to ruin this amazing moment we were having by bringing the complications of reality into it.
I loved the food in this restaurant, but it was too loud for deep conversations about feelings. Parties and weddings were held in the back rooms, and a few times I’d had dinner a couple of tables away from one of the Yankees. The walls were plastered with signed photographs from all the New York teams and Bronx-born celebrities who would stop by.
Before my mother moved, we’d come here for special occasions, and although Landon and I couldn’t have the serious talk we needed, I wanted to celebrate having him here with me—and being well enough to appreciate it.
“Is it weird to be back for good?” I asked Landon as I sipped my cappuccino.
“Before the last few months, I came back and forth enough for it not to be weird.” He scanned the space. “Although not having NASCAR or the Panthers all over the walls in a place like this definitely makes it different.”
“So, good news. They told us today that our project was extended, and I am treating you tonight.”
“No, you’re not.” He narrowed his eyes and shook his head. “I told you. Dinners are on me for putting me up in your spare room for however long it’s going to take me to find my own place.”
My stomach sank at the thought. He’d eventually leave when he found his own place, whether it was a few weeks or a few months. He’d only been here for a couple of days and I didn’t want him to go, but I wanted to try us out as a couple before he officially moved in, even though we were married already.
I laughed to myself at the very strange trajectory Landon and I had found ourselves on.
“We’ll see. I need to use the restroom for a moment. I’ll be right back.” I grabbed my bag and headed toward the bar, not the bathrooms, to find our waitress so I could pay before he could try to stop me once the check came. Not having a rock in my stomach every time I checked my bank balance was sadly new, and while I didn’t want to say to hell with it and run up my charge card, I could afford dinner with a friend, or whatever Landon would be after we talked tonight.
“Julie? I thought that was you.”
I pivoted and spotted Nate sitting at the bar. He used to like coming here to watch the Giants games on Sundays, but I had no idea now if he’d actually come here all those times he’d said he had or if he’d spent the afternoon at his assistant’s apartment. But I was no longer curious, so I didn’t care.
He looked the same, his dirty-blond hair cropped a little shorter, and his face was clean-shaven as usual, highlighting the sharp jaw I’d always found so attractive. Now, I felt nothing when I looked him over, other than regret for how much time I’d wasted on someone who wasn’t worth it.
“Hi,” I said, not bothering to encourage conversation after that. I craned my neck to find our waitress taking orders at the end of the bar. She wouldn’t see or hear me if I waved, and I tried to will her over to get the check and go. I didn’t want to talk to Nate or have Landon find him here.
“You look great. I’ve been thinking about you a lot lately. I wanted to call you a million times.”
My head snapped to him. “What? Why?”
A slow smile spread on his lips as he stood.Shit, this wasn’t good.What the hell could he want to talk to me about after all this time? I didn’t know, and I didn’t have the inclination or the time to find out.
“I miss you. Come sit.”
“No. I’m here with someone and just wanted to pay the check.”
“Come on, Jules. Look, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done what I did. I was under a lot of pressure.”
“Pressure?” I squinted at him, taking a step back for each one he took toward me. “You had a months-long affair with your assistant because you feltpressure?”
He exhaled with a groan and shut his eyes. “It was all moving so fast. The house, setting a date. Then you started to change.”
“I gotsick. So yes, that changes a person.” I glanced over his shoulder to our waitress who’d already moved on to the next customer. I needed that check and needed to get us out of here, but Nate wouldn’t take the hint and back off.
“You fell into a depression, and I could’ve been more considerate. You just wouldn’t listen and snap out of it.”
