“I figured you’d like that one. I was excited to try it as soon she mentioned trout, truffles, and butter.”
“It’s so damn good. Seriously, Jade is amazing. She might make better food than you,” she says, setting down her fork. I quirk a brow at her and she laughs. “OK. Maybe not, but it’s awfully close.” She holds her thumb and finger just millimeters apart from each other. “Very close.”
“Good. I’m glad you’re enjoying dinner—the restaurant.”
Her lips curl into a sheepish smile and she scrunches her shoulders. “You know, I almost came here once.”
“I know.”
She rears back in surprise. “What?”
I lean forward on one elbow, resting my other hand on her thigh. Her eyes drop to where I’m touching her bare skin. I rub circles on it until her eyes find mine again.
My voice is low and raspy. “You think I don’t look for your name or Monica’s every night on my reservations list? You think I didn’t tell my hostesses to do the same?”
“Oh.” I see the way her cheeks turn a subtle pink, realizing that I have never stopped thinking about her. She drops her eyes to my hand again and traces one of her long dark nails over the back of my hand, sending a shiver down my spine. “I guess I never thought about that.”
“About a year ago.” I take a drink of wine and set the glass down. “I remember that night. You no-showed though. What happened?”
CHAPTER 29
KELSEY
One Year Earlier
“Come on, for old times’sake?” Monica holds her hands together in a pleading gesture. “We haven’t gone out in weeks.”
“I don’t know. I’ve got to drive back to my place tonight and then be back here early.” The truth is that I just haven’t felt like going out since I moved into my new apartment in Rodgers a few weeks ago. Getting used to this new commute is harder than I thought and hasn’t left me in the best of moods.
She leans forward and stretches out over the counter like a cat. “It’ll be fun. We can leave Felix in the apartment and Jason can make up the pullout for you before he goes to work. Please?”
I take off my apron and wad it up into a ball on the counter. “You’re awfully bold, volunteering your boyfriend to do your bidding.”
She grins back at me, taking off her apron and neatly hanging it on a hook in the kitchen.
I moved out so Jason could move in upstairs with Monica.They only started dating about six months ago, so it came as a bit of a surprise that they wanted to move in together so fast, but if there’s one thing I know about my best friend—she’s confident and when she knows what she wants, she doesn’t wait around.
Maybe I should take a cue from her more often, but I’m still trying not to think about the last time I did—that night with Sutton, or the morning after, because it felt perfect until I realized where he lived and who he was. The only thing that makes it worse is that he still comes into Cowgirl Coffee all the time and flashes that intoxicating smile and those dimples at me. Even when I’m mad at him and he infuriates me, he still manages to make my heart flutter and my skin heat.
“Believe me, I think he’s getting the better end of the deal.” She stands up straight and waves her hand up and down in front of herself.
I shake my head side to side. “Where do you even want to go?”
She looks up and bites her lip while she thinks. “OK. Please don’t be mad, but can we at leasttryGloria’s?”
I scowl at her. “Really?”
She raises her hands up in front of her. “We can go and sit at the bar. Jason knows their bar manager, Rich, and he says the cocktails are absolutely the best in town and the food is insane—out of solidarity for you, of course, I have refrained from going. So please, end my misery and go with me?”
“I don’t know. I really don’t feel like going there.” That’s the truth, even if I’ve been just a teensy bit curious about what that restaurant is like. She’s not the first person to tell me that the food and drinks are amazing.
“It’s my treat, and if that asshole chef tries to talk to you, I will personally tell him to fuck right off.”
I chew at the inside of my cheek, mulling it over. She flashes me another pleadinggrin. “Pretty please?”
I roll my eyes and drop my head with an exaggerated sigh. “Alright, fine. We can go.”
“Again,are you sure you don’t mind watching him?”