But life is too short to wait for someone who doesn’t want me. Or won’t act on that attraction. My insides soften and suddenly I wish we weren’t here at this restaurant. I wish I’d been courageous enough to drag him into my house.
He pulls back and his eyes tell me he feels the same.
Clearing his throat, he sits back and smiles this knowing smile that rushes down my spine and fills me with need.
“Good evening.” The voice startles me. The server stands beside our table, waiting for us.
How long has he been there? My cheeks warm.
“May I get you some wine while you decide on your meal?”
Drew orders an expensive bottle of white wine for us. I smile at the server like I wasn’t just making out at the table like a teenager. When the server nods and moves away to fill our order, a giggle falls out of me.
Drew’s eyes sparkle as he strokes his fingers down a strand of my hair. “You should laugh more often, Sara.”
“Then I’m exactly where I need to be.” I release a happy sigh. Tom’s still missing, but things seem settled. Maybe he exaggerated the whole thing. Maybe there wasn’t any danger and he just needed a vacation.
Who knows with Tom. I love my brother, but he disappears sometimes when he gets overwhelmed. Mom worries, but I don’t. But he doesn’t usually leave me and the guys with cryptic messages. Maybe he’s bored and wants to shake things up.
The server comes back with the wine and pours a little in each of our glasses. I take a sip and sigh. Good wine.
Drew gives me a questioning look and I nod slightly to let him know it’s good.
The server fills our glasses, and after we both order and the server steps away, Wyatt’s favorite table fills my view.
Where Wyatt currently sits with his blond date.
My heart catches fire and crumbles like a stone into my stomach. My breath hitches and I can’t seem to release it. Wyatt’s on a date. Not just any date, but one with the same blond bimbo he’s been out with multiple times before.
Okay, maybe she’s not a bimbo. That’s judgmental of me. But how can he be with her when he could have me?
Drew takes my hand.
“Hey, princess,” he says quietly and turns my chin his way. His eyes are knowing and concern swims in them.
Or maybe it’s the tears in mine that make his swim. Fuck. I blink back those traitorous tears. I’m not still pining over Wyatt Hawkins. I’m here with this really great guy who deserves all my attention.
“Do you want to leave?” Drew brushes his thumb my cheek.
I draw in a deep breath and shake my head. “We’ve already ordered and this is our first dinner date.”
I smile even though my heart is settled somewhere in the pit of despair right now.
Drew kisses me and rests his head against mine. “It’s okay to feel, princess. If he can’t pull his head out of his ass, it’s his loss and my gain.”
Drew’s spicy cologne fills my senses and my heart doesn’t feel so heavy. I open my eyes to his and he smiles, and some of the ashen remains of my heart reform.
“That smile. Fuck, princess. It makes me feel warm all over.” He pulls away and holds his glass out to me. “To a future without regret.”
I lift my glass and touch his. The sparks he lights within me are exactly what I need and want. “To a future without regret.”
We both take a sip and set our glasses down.
“How has your first week at work been?” Drew gives me his full attention ,which makes those butterflies rise. Here is this great guy and I’m stuck on an asshole who used to be nice to me as a kid. I need to focus on the right man.
“With the exception of Tom going AWOL, pretty decent.” I take a sip and refuse to let my attention stray to Wyatt and his date. That’s not my life anymore. We talk about my work and Drew’s work at his family’s company.
By the time dinner arrives, Wyatt is just this nagging little tickle at my consciousness.
