“Ah.” I nod slowly. “Yes. That.”
“That.” She scoffs, rubbing her temples. I hear her mutter a countdown from five under her breath. Then she lowers her hand to her lap. “It’s a big deal,Tommy.”
“I told you I don’t want to be called—”
“Does it look like I care what you prefer being called?” she cuts me off coolly. Her shoulders are rigid as she turns to the window, closes her eyes, and calms herself. “I don’t like being called pet names, but you still do it. So you can suck it up, buttercup.”
I hide my wavering smile the best I can by the time her attention is back on me. “I told you that my marriage is not what it seems.”
She shakes her head. “You could just be saying that to get what you want.”
One of my eyebrows arches. “And what is it you think I want?”
Her cheeks grow darker as she squirms. “It seems pretty obvious to me. You want…” Her tongue drags across her bottom lip as she gestures between us. “You want to have—”
“Sex?” I finish for her. “It isn’t a bad word.”
Before she can reply, a middle-aged waitress comes over with a less than amused look on her face. “Do you want anything?” she asks me, holding a notepad. “You’ve been keeping this one waiting long enough. I thought for sure she’d been stood up.”
From the corner of my eye, I see Winter flinch.
The waitress’s eyes narrow on me, and something resembling familiarity fills them as she takes me in. “Do I know you from somewhere?”
I’m not recognized as often in Connecticut as I was in Pennsylvania, but thanks to the tabloids blasting my photos everywhere for the past two months, it’s become a common occurrence. Especially among the population of Fairbanks that enjoys online fodder and pop culture gossip. This woman definitely indulges in TMZ articles in between customers.
“I doubt it,” Winter answers for me. “He just got out of prison yesterday. That’s why he was late. He’s a bit out of sorts in the real world.”
I snort at the explanation that she makes, and the waitress’s eyes widen. Her examination of me becomes more judgmental, going to my arms, then my face, before turning to Winter.
“You’re far too pretty to be wound up in whatever mess he’s gotten himself into,” she chides to the blonde across from me. “I’d leave while you still can.”
Winter forces a smile. “I will certainly do my best.”
I chime in with, “I’ll take a Coke and a menu…” My eyes scan her nametag. “Linda.And I’d appreciate it if you could take it easy on the advice. I’m trying to get laid here.”
Winter makes a choked noise, and Linda narrows her eyes before walking off to, hopefully, get me a soda and a menu.
“Seriously?” Winter quips.
I drape an arm over the back of the booth. “I could have said worse. And prison? Really? That’s going to be a hell of a headline. I look forward to seeing what your boss thinks of that contribution to my reputation when it comes out as front-page news.”
She rolls her eyes. “Nobody recognizes you.”
All I do is hum. Unlike her, I know when I’m seen. People aren’t as subtle as they think. Within the next thirty minutes, Linda is going to be pointing her phone in our direction and emailing TMZ for an exclusive.
We fall quiet, and she shifts again.
I lean forward and drop my voice. “Do you regret doing it? Or do you regret that it made you feel good?”
Her body freezes at the question, her eyes remaining on the table in front of her as she sucks in a long breath.
I soak in the silence before filling it. “Guilt can be a bitch when you let it eat you alive. I’ve learned a long time ago that isn’t the way to live.”
When she picks her eyes up, I can’t read what’s behind the glaze in them. “The difference is that you clearly don’t care who it can hurt.”
My jaw tics. She has no fucking idea. No. Goddamn. Idea. “If you don’t know what you’re talking about, I suggest not saying a word.”
The snarled warning makes her swallow and press her lips together.
