I slap my napkin down next to my plate and get up. Hux frowns as he follows my movement, but I don’t have time to satisfy his curiosity.
I walk toward their table. Then, pasting on my most charming smile, I place a kiss on Bobbi’s cheek, quickly enough that she can’t move away or punch me in the face. Her fists hurt. “You look lovely, my light.”
Bobbi gives me a poisonous glare while her date assesses this new development. Finally, he turns to her. “Do you know this man?”
“No,” she says.
“I’m her fiancé.”
“Ah.” His gaze drops to the blue diamond on her finger, the one he placed there just moments ago. The gesture is a challenge and a fuck-you. “You seem to be a bit late.”
For once, I hate my easygoing persona. Should have listened to Mom when she recommended an ax murderer vibe, then this asshole would be showing me more respect.
“This is what you managed to manifest?” I say. “A guy who can’t even buy his own ring?”
She gives me a pat smile. “But one who can keep his promises.”
“What promise?”
“He’s here. For dinner.”
“Which I’m paying for,” the guy adds with a bland smile.
“Ibought you dinner before!” I say, in case she’s forgotten all the things I bought her, or if this is about her needing to be sure I can treat her better than this guy. I thank my lucky stars for my perfect memory. Every single thing we’ve done together is seared into my mind. “Mexico, July twenty-ninth, when we first met, and then for the rest of the vacation, lunch and dinner. After we came back to the States, a brunch at Jean-Georges on August fifteenth. Then—”
All this doesn’t seem to advance my case. Her cheeks redden and she jumps to her feet, covering my mouth with her hand. The feel of her bare skin on my lips sends an electric jolt through me. She’s close enough that I can smell the heady scent of her shampoo and soap, which haven’t changed since I’ve known her. I kiss her palm, then lick it, holding her furious eyes with mine, silently communicating she’s the only woman I want. That’s the one true thing in my world, and I don’t want her to resist it anymore.
Her face turns redder. Her beautiful eyes flash with incredulity, shock andoh-no-you-don’t. “Excuse me,” she says to the other guy. Then she snatches her hand away, grabs my wrist and drags me off toward the bathrooms. I follow, willing to go literally anywhere as long as she’s with me.
We walk past the diners, some of whom turn to watch, then to the less brightly lit corridor outside the bathrooms. She starts to pull me into the ladies’ room, which I instinctively resist.
“Hey, I can’t go in there—”
“Get in hereright now!”She grabs me with both hands and practically lifts me off my feet. I end up inside the ladies’ room, which—thankfully—is empty. Bobbi seems worked up enough to toss any woman who might be in here out.
All the stalls have floor-to-ceiling faux-wood doors that have been left ajar. Spotless mirrors cover the walls in the vanity area. She reaches around behind me and locks the door.
“Okay,” she says, hands on hips. “What kind of game are you playing?”
“No game.”
“Are you trying to embarrass me in front of Eugene?”
Of all the things to be upset about. “Me telling you what we have between us is embarrassing?” I thought she was unhappy that she forgot some of our history, while I haven’t.
“You were listing the meals you paid for!”
“I was listing all the times we had together, except for, you know, the dates and the sex stuff because I figured that might be upsetting for you. I haven’t forgotten even a second of our history.”
A hint of uncertainty fleets in her eyes before she stiffens. “Bullshit.”
“What’s bullshit is you letting that asshole put that ring on your finger. He didn’t even pay for it.” I glare at her, bristling with outrage that she’s settling just to avoid me. “He doesn’t know you the way I do. He doesn’t understand you the way I do. He will never cherish you the way I do—”
Her eyes flutter as the walls around her start to crack. She covers her ears, squeezing her eyes closed, like that will keep me out of her mind and erase our history. “Shut up, shut up,shut up!”
I’m not going to shut up, not like this. But if she doesn’t want to hear the words…
I take her wrists and pull her hands away from her ears. “Make me.”
