Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 71911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71911 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 360(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
“No.” Theo looked at her like that didn’t matter.
“I’m sorry, sir,” she said. “We’re fully committed.”
“Trust me, it’s fine.”
Did he own this place too?
“Sir,” she repeated with more attitude. “I said we’re fully committed.”
“Anna, it’s fine.” The woman I’d met at the restaurant a couple weeks ago came to the front, dressed in all black with heels, looking like a supermodel once again. “Hey, Theo.” She smirked as she looked at him. “No reservation, huh?”
He smirked back. “Thought my sister could help me out.”
She did a quick scan in the computer. “Are you fine with a small table?”
“You know I’m not picky.”
She spoke to the hostess. “I’ll have the guys grab a table and chairs from the back. Seat them in section twelve.”
“Sure thing,” the hostess said without a hint of attitude now.
“It’ll be just a few minutes,” Scarlett said before she stepped aside at the counter and opened a binder. She snuck a look at me, and when I caught her stare, she smiled. “Nice to see you again.”
“You too.” I smiled back.
Theo put his hand on the small of my back and guided me away from the congestion of the entry. A few moments later, our table was ready, and Theo took the lead and pulled out my chair when we arrived.
The table was small and tucked into a corner, but it was definitely quieter.
Theo glanced at his menu for two seconds, as if that was all it took to find what he wanted.
“You like this place?”
“I love it.”
“This is the first restaurant you’ve taken me to that you don’t own.”
“Guess it’s time I stop being cheap.” He gave a slight smirk before it disappeared.
The waitress came over, and he ordered an old fashioned.
I ordered a glass of wine.
Then it was just the two of us again. “You know what you’re getting?”
“The chicken. I had it a couple nights ago and haven’t stopped thinking about it.”
I immediately pictured him at dinner with some other woman he’d taken out to eat. She wore a skintight black dress like Scarlett and drank scotch like a man. But then I remembered he said he didn’t take women out to dinner, and I realized my jealousy had reared its ugly head out of nowhere. “I’ll have to try it.”
“Get something else, and we’ll share.”
“What do you recommend?”
“Axel almost ordered everything on the menu, so I’d say you’re safe with anything.”
“Is that who you came here with?”
He nodded. “Scarlett was the head chef for the night, so he wanted to eat here.”
“Doesn’t she cook at home?”
“I asked the same thing, but I guess she doesn’t cook a lot these days with two kids running around. Best time to get some of her cooking is when she’s at the restaurant. He got one entrée to eat in the restaurant and one to go.”
I smiled. “That’s cute.”
“He’s definitely her biggest fan.”
“I love that.”
The waitress returned with our drinks then asked for our orders. Theo stuck to his decision with the chicken, so I opted for a pasta. Then we were left alone again, the two of us in the back corner, the sound of chitchat coming from behind me.
When he removed the glass cover from his drink, a billow of smoke rose toward the ceiling. He breathed in the smoke like it was air then took a drink. “It’s a drink and a cigar in one.”
“Two bullets, one heart.”
He cocked his head slightly.
“Something my husband says.” I wished I’d just lied and said I’d heard it somewhere else, but I wasn’t the kind of person who could just bullshit off the cuff. “Two birds, one stone. Basically the same thing.”
He grabbed his glass and took another drink, letting my words settle into the silence.
I waited for the awkwardness to dissipate like the cloud of smoke had. It took a long time for it to move, but eventually, it did. “You like this place, then?”
“Scarlett is a talented chef.”
“Did she train anywhere?”
“No. She’s a natural. Just how you’re a natural painter.”
A flush of heat entered my neck and cheeks. “You’ve barely seen my work.”
“But I can see what you’re trying to capture.”
“What am I trying to capture?” I asked.
He stared at me across the table for a long time, his fingers around the cool glass. “Grief.”
A pain shot through my chest and both arms, like I’d been caught with one hand in the candy jar. My face remained as stoic as ever, but I felt a sudden panic deep inside me. Like my lies had been spilled. My truth had been told. “Why do you think that?”
“Because I can see it.” He hadn’t blinked since the start of this conversation. “You said you paint moments. I think I know what moment you painted.”
After Bolton had asked for an open marriage, I’d ended up at a coffee shop on my lunch break. For some reason, it hit me there, sitting by myself, that I would probably die alone…even if I were still married. My world had been shattered by Bolton’s request, and even though I loved him with all my heart, I knew it would never be the same.