Why was he still standing there? Anyone else would have seen her crying and would have run for the hills. In her experience, most people didn’t do heavy emotion well.
Come to think of it, she was having a bit of trouble with heavy emotion herself. Maybe she was the one who should be making a run for it.
Alex saw into her somehow, but there were things she didn’t want him to see.
“What’s surreal?”
“When we hooked up, I had no idea who you were.”
“I know.”
“You could have told me.”
“I was laying low. Besides, what should I have told you exactly? Neither of us seemed keen on giving out information that night.”
“I guess you’re right.”
“Should we start over?”
“I guess it depends what we’re starting.”
He ignored her quip and held out his hand. “I’m Alex Markov. Nice to meet you.”
“Dana Hamill. Nice to meet you too.”
“There. That wasn’t so bad, was it? By the way, how’s your sister doing?”
“As well as can be expected, considering we’re celebrating the death of her marriage.”
“Did you know the guy?”
“Yeah. I liked Roman. I mean, I only see him about twice a year, but we always got along.” She paused, not wanting to reveal too much to a stranger, and yet wanting to unburden herself at the same time. “He cheated, the son of a bitch.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Me too. I just found out. I’m still wrapping my head around it. I don’t understand why he’d do it. My sister is a good woman, a total catch. She’s smart and attractive and fun. What did he see in this other woman that he didn’t see in her?”
“I wish I could answer that.”
“There probably isn’t an answer.” Dana threw up her hands. “Why do men do that? Why is it they can’t be happy with what they have? He has a perfectly good woman in front of him, someone dedicated to his happiness, and he throws it all away. Men are pigs.” When Alex’s face darkened, she realized she might be lobbing too much verbal diarrhea in his direction. “I’m sorry.Somemen. Not all of them. That came out wrong. This whole situation sucks.”
“It’s okay. You have a right to feel that way. As for your question, I don’t know why some people cheat. There’s no excuse for it. I suppose they do it because they can.”
“Your honesty is refreshing.”
“I don’t like lies. They don’t serve anyone.”
“It sounds as if you’ve been lied to once or twice.”
“Haven’t we all?”
Tommy had said he’d love her forever. He’d lied. “Boy, I bet you never expected to have this conversation when you saw me.”
“Maybe not, but I’m glad we did. Frankly, after the past few weeks, I’m happy to have any conversation with you.”
This man. Whowashe? Every word out of his mouth felt like a hug. She crossed her arms, trying to fend off the imagined embraces.
“So I guess I shouldn’t be keeping you from your party.”
