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“I promise not to look away from you tonight, Ms. McGuire. I promise not to look at my phone. Give me your purse.” I know exactly what he’s going to do. “You can have this back when I say goodnight.”

He tucks my perennial purple Flair into the inside breast pocket of his coat and puts his phone in my purse. “Can I steal a pen from you?” The bartender melts as he charms her, and she hands it over. “Blue. That way, you won’t write a plot or character, but can make notes for your speech.” It’s hard to be this well known by someone I don’t get to keep. He signs the bill, and I run to the ladies’ room.

* * *

I find him outside when I return.

“It’s a four-block walk from here.”

“Hey, you’re in super fucking high heels. Does the knee feel that good?”

I grin. The heels hurt a touch, but I got this. “It does. I play. My partners and trainers take it easy. And I don’t run for the net. It kills me, but I’m doing it.”

“You’re the definition of getting back on the horse.”

“It feels great. I smashed the shit out of the ball and pretended it was you. Carlos was amused.”

His smile turns into that sexy thing he does. “NO.” He shakes his head.

“I play with Ari too.”

“Woman! Don’t play. Please don’t sleep with the sexy, smart Mexican God.”

“I promise. He sleeps with way too many people for my liking.”

“I’ll never trust him. Can I shift focus to you and those heels? Also, goddamn, those shoes are sexy. Your legs look to die for. Sorry.”

I love and hate him for saying that. But I want him to twist and suffer just a bit.

“Thank you, that was my intention in choosing them tonight. I was hoping to find someone to take my mind off a semi-recent breakup.”

He jokes, “I’m so sorry. What moron, complete fucking idiot, would break up with you? Or let you go.” His eyebrows exaggerate everything he says. I swallow up every bit of energy radiating off him. I hate that I’m right back to loving him when I know I’ll never be his priority or that Mikey’s still his emergency contact. I shut that part of my brain off for the night and take in the moment.

I say to him in a coy voice as we walk alongside my side. “The insane part is, it had more to do with wanting different things, priorities, and scheduling. There was always more than enough heat and love. Isn’t that insane?”

He spins me to face him. “It is. I’m nursing a shattered heart myself. We couldn’t figure out how to have a life together. We couldn’t find the same page. And want to know the bitch of it?”

“I do. I want to know all about this bitch.” My voice is breathy.

“Not a bitch, well she could be.” He winks. “The bitch of the situation, she’s still all I think about. It’s the primary preoccupation of my life. Either avoiding thinking about her or obsessing about what she’s doing and why I’m not a part of it. She’s still the most interesting person I’ve ever known. I haven’t talked to her in three months, one week, and six days and she’s still my favorite person.”

I gasp slightly but try to cover it. This might be the most mature conversation about the relationship we’ve ever had. I keep up the ruse. I need it to protect me. “That is a bitch. Mine invades most of my day. I should be working, and I end up thinking about his stupid fucking crooked smile.”

He stops and grabs me, and we’re facing each other. So close that a whisper couldn’t even sneak between us. “This one?”

My resolve is gone.

I whisper delicately while outlining his lips with my cherry red nail. “That’s the one.” And we hurry to each other’s lips. He backs me into a brick wall, and I’m trying to calculate if there’s enough time to get back to the hotel and still make dinner on time. His lip drops below mine, inviting me inside. The place I always wanted to be inside. There’s desperation and confusion in our kiss. Flood gates open, and I taste his desire and our unresolved lust and love. It’s all still there like it’s been waiting to be rediscovered.

He pulls away, holding my cheeks. “Oh, woman.” He has Tom’s Fucking Fabulous all over him. I wipe off his face with a tissue from my bag. I slide my hand into his.

“I need to text very quickly. Have to tell Joan it’s not Mikey.”

“Prepare her for the ex-factor.”

His hand finds its way to my lower back, and I melt into his touch. My knees buckle a tiny bit.

TESS: Mikey tricked us. Alex is here and coming with me to your evening.