Page 35 of The Longest Wait

“Are we going back to my idea of how we enjoyed fucking eachother senseless?”

It was her turn to roll her eyes. “No. Can you stay focused? Wetell them Dominic bailed on us to sleep with that Cammie woman,which left you and me together. We talked and things are good.”

He took a bite of the shrimp from her plate. “Her namewas Carla.”

“Whatever.” Sofia didn’t care what the woman’s name was.“Nothing is going to change except now when we’re together, wearen’t fighting. Sex worked magic on us because, as you previouslymentioned, it is out of our system, and now we can be civil.”

“Right,” Alex said with minimal commitment.

He didn’t seem like he agreed with the plan, but there wasn’tanother option. She knew Alex well enough that if he didn’t wantto talk about something, it was a moot point to force conversation. It was why she and all of their other friends, including hissister, barely knew about the intricacies of his career. If he wanteda conversation change, she would give it to him.

“Out of curiosity, is this like the food in Spain?” Ever sincehe said Barcelona was his favorite place, she wondered about thetrip. She would love to hear more detail about why Barcelona wasclose to his heart.

He seemed to appreciate her cue on the change in conversation,as he relaxed in his seat. “De ningún modo. El sabor está apagado.”

She burst into laughter. “What did you just say in your horribly fake Spanish accent?”

He grinned and she loved the way his face lit up. “It was prettybad. But, I never told you I mastered it. I was letting you knowthe flavor isn’t right.”

“The other night, you said you can speak seven languages.English is one, and now I know you have the ability to butcher theSpanish language. What are the other five?”

“I learned Italian first, which made Spanish easier to pick up.”

“Isn’t it normally the other way around?”

He shrugged. “Probably. But my first assignment was in Italy,not Spain.”

“You never take the easy way,” she said in a teasing tone.

“Tell me about,” Alex said while giving her a dark look andlifting his eyebrow. “After that, I learned Russian, French, German,and minimally some Arabic.”

Sofia was impressed. “I barely remember Latin I took in college.”

“Why did you want to learn a dead language?”

“Because it is often the start of many beautiful languages.”

“Could it be that Sofia Winton is truly a romantic at heart?”

“Negative, ghost rider.” Sofia relaxed. “However, there is something about the history of the language that holds my interest.”

What she expected to be a quick dinner to devise a plan tokeep their friends in the dark, turned into a three-hour event. Herand Alex shared two bottles of wine and talked the whole night.It was nice to actually get to know him. The only thing she had todo was ignore the pestering thoughts of what if she wanted more.Spending time with him, both of them unguarded, showed herhow well they clicked.

What if, this time, they could make it work?

ALEX GOT HOME a little after ten when his phone rang. Hefelt like a teenager, hoping to see if it was Sofia calling. Their nightfar exceeded what he thought was going to happen between them.They spent the night enjoying each other’s company, learning moreabout each other and taking turns sharing funny stories. He evenmanaged to pay, but only after a ten-minute argument. Sofia wasadamant they weren’t on a date.

When he grabbed his phone, he was thoroughly disappointed.It wasn’t Sofia. It was work.

“It’s Alex,” he swiftly answered.

“Thanks for answering. I wasn’t sure if you still kept untraditional hours,” Maria Flide said. She had been his boss ever sincehe started at National Geographic. Her photography skills werephenomenal and everyone on the team was able to learn from her.“We need to discuss your last assignment.”

He was waiting for this call. While no one would be able tosay he didn’t do his job, the moment he saw the proofs, somethingwas missing. It was like he was only going through the mechanicsof taking a picture. There was no character and no emotion inphotographs of the decline of the farmland in middle America.

He captured the deserted tractors as if they were decaying.Pictures galore of farmers standing lonesome on their land or onthe porch with family gathered around them. The scene of thefarming crisis had been done time and time again. Alex snappedthe pictures in Auto-Tune.

And it showed.