I am so startled by hearing my name in such a firm tone, I let out a small yelp and drop the purse to the ground. Since the zipper is now undone, I can hear my phone slipping out of it with a gentle thud, followed by the clinking of my keys.
When I look up, I am so shocked, you could knock me down with a feather.
“Alex.” I nod despite me wanting to pick up the glass of water and throw it in his face. “What a surprise to see you here.”
And I am not joking when I say that. Alex Connors was never the type to dine in such elegant establishments, at least not to my knowledge.
I hold his gaze while he stares at me, refusing to back down. In fact, I hope he can feel how much I despise him just from looking into my eyes.
“Not as surprised as I am to see you,” he now tells me. I swear there’s a little smirk in the corner of his mouth. “What brings you here?”
With my heart pounding in my ears, I raise an inquiring eyebrow. “Your question implies that I am not fit to step foot into such a fine establishment.”
Not going to lie, it hurts that he thinks so little of me. I hate him for it, and I wish I never wasted so much time on trying to make him see me without thinking I was after his money. Coincidentally, I don’t even know how much money he has because he’s always kept all the cards very close to his chest. But every so often, there were signs that he was in a much better financial situation than the apartment he lived in suggested.
“There is no implication of anything,” he tells me. He looks a little annoyed that I called him out on his shit. “I just haven’t seen you in a while, and I didn’t expect to see you here of all places.”
I widen my eyes in surprise when he pulls out the chair across from me and moves it in the empty spot next to me,then, he sits down.
“Excuse me, you can’t do that.”
He glances around in question. “I don’t see any signs to prevent me from doing it.”
I stomp my foot in annoyance. My heel catches onto something, which is the moment I remember that my cell phone fell out of my purse. With sudden moves, I push the chair back and lean down to pick everything up, noticing the very visible scratch I left on the screen of my cell.
“Shit,” I murmur to myself.
Alex’s warm breath hits my ear. “You shouldn’t use that kind of language in here. It is frowned upon.”
The skin on my arms instantly breaks into tiny little pebbles, and a shiver envelopes me from head to toe.
“Please go away,” I snap at him. “I am waiting for someone, and I will be very mad if you ruin my date.”
There’s a glint in his eye at hearing that. “You have a date?”
“No, Alex.” I roll my eyes at him. “I just sit around and pine for you all hours of the day.”
He lets out a snort of amusement but recovers quickly. “Is that why you’ve blocked me on any and all possible platforms I could contact you?”
His question is direct, and I can appreciate it. There is no beating around the bush. But I am still annoyed that he has the nerve to ask.
“I would’ve expected you to understand from me blocking you that I want nothing to do with you.”
My voice is slightly shaky. He can rattle me like nobody else, and I worry that I will do or say something that I will regret later. I need to stay cool, calm and collected, and pray that he will not put me in an uncomfortable situation when Julian gets here.
At the same time, I can smell his cologne, and it reminds me of all the times I cuddled into his body, with my face buried into his neck, inhaling his scent and thinking I could not live without it and him in my life.
“Talking to you in person is better than catching you on the phone,” he smirks at me. “I like this a lot better.”
There have been so many instances over the last four years where he played games with me. He pushed me away, then he chased me down, and I always went back. I promised myself that I would not do it ever again. I need to have more respect for myself, a lot more than he’s had for me.
“I don’t like it at all,” I tell him. “There’s a reason why I didn’t want to talk you, Alex. Please go away,” I repeat.
He pulls back a little, disappointment clear on his face. He really thought it would be that easy again. My guess is that he’s looking for an easy lay, and I’d always been that for him, at least until this last time when he told me in no certain terms that we were through. I don’t care that he’s changed his mind about usagain. I am done, and I will focus on that only.
Alex stares into my eyes for so long that I suddenly feel intimidated. He has too much power over me. He’s always been able to pull me in somehow, stealing my breath with his kisses, and my body with his touches.
I shake my head in a conscious effort to clear it. I don’t need to be thinking about Alex’s kisses or the way he used to touch my body. All those memories have been permanently erased from my brain, or I’d like to think so.
