As I walked away from him, I could swear I felt the heat of his eyes on my back, burning my skin. I wondered when he first noticed me and how long he’d been watching.
Eric pulled out my chair for me, which I appreciated in a vague way, and I tried to calm my racing thoughts. I had to pull myself together. I couldn’t dwell on the fact that he’d obviously just had dinner with another woman.
Hell, it had been six months and there was no way King was celibate. He was insatiable and I’d walked away from him. Of course he’d moved on. I was the one who was pathetic, not dating, hiding in my apartment and moping.
I felt steel fill my spine. I’d made my choice. It was time to put on my big girl panties and quit the internal whining about it. So my last two relationships hadn’t ended well. I was relatively young, healthy, and I made good money. Things could be a lot worse.
As the hostess gave us the menus, I thanked her and looked at Eric, who was studying me closely. “You okay?” he asked after she walked away.
Since I appreciated his directness and his attentiveness, I decided to give him the same.
“I will be. I, uh, just saw a ghost from the past out there.”
“Ghost from the past?”
I shrugged. “Ex-something. I haven’t seen him since the day it ended and it took me by surprise.”
He nodded and then gave me an incredibly thoughtful offer. “Do you wanna go somewhere else? I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”
The tension inside me evaporated. “No, I’m fine. It was over six months ago. It threw me because I wasn’t expecting to see him. We don’t exactly spend time in the same sort of places.”
“I understand.”
Determined to put it aside, I changed the subject. Then we ordered, ate our meal, and lingered over dessert and coffee. It was a great first date. One of the best.
After Eric paid the bill, we walked out and, to my relief, the booth where King had been sitting was empty. He insisted on walking me to my car, his hand wrapped lightly around mine.
I unlocked the car and stopped by the driver’s side door. Looking up at him, I stated, “This was great, Eric. Thank you for dinner and drinks.”
He smiled down at me. “Does that mean you’ll go out with me again? I promise that all my wives won’t resent it if we start dating.”
Laughing, I nodded. “Yes, I’d like to do this again.”
“How about dinner again on Friday?”
Two days away. Eric definitely wasn’t wasting any time. I appreciated that. “Sure. Friday sounds good.”
“I’ll pick you up at seven. Text me your address.”
This time I didn’t hedge. Maybe that was a mistake, but it was a risk I was willing to take.
“Okay.”
Slowly, Eric leaned down and brushed his lips against mine. It was a light kiss that set my lips to tingling in a pleasant way. I’d forgotten what those tingles could feel like. With King it had been fire and dizzying ups and downs of anger and passion, but never the warm tingles of attraction.
Opening my door for me, Eric helped me into my car and shut it once I was inside. He also stood in the parking lot as I pulled through the empty space in front of me and drove away.
When I got home, I went through my usual routine of dumping my bag and keys by the door and kicking off my shoes immediately. Before I could make my way to my bedroom to change into my lounging clothes, there was a knock at the door.
I put my eye to the peephole and froze. For the first time in six months, King Sloan was standing at my door.
I shook my head in disgust and turned away. No way in hell I was talking to him. Not a word for six months, then he sees with me with another man and suddenly he comes over? I didn’t think so.
King pounded on the door again. “You either open the door and talk to me or I’m coming in.”
I glared at the wood, wishing that I were a larger man so I could toss his ass down the stairs. I knew he meant every word he said. King would find a way into my apartment if I didn’t let him in myself.
Leaving the chain on, I cracked the door. “What are you doing here, King?”
Jesus, he looked amazing. His skin was tanned, as though he’d been spending a lot of time outside, and his hair was a little longer. His biceps were stretching the sleeves of his t-shirt to the breaking point. He’d bulked up in the last few months.
“I wanna talk to you.”
“Tough. I’m not interested in talking to you.” I shut the door.
He knocked on it sharply. “Open the door, Jena.”
I did, but didn’t remove the chain. “Seriously, King,” I said softly, “There’s nothing left to say. It ended six months ago and I haven’t heard from you since.”
“How is it, darlin’, that you’re the one who walked away from me yet you’re acting like the injured party?”
I was done with this conversation. Done. “King, I’m not acting like the injured party. I just don’t want to talk to you. There’s nothing left to say. Now, it’s late and I’m tired. So you have two choices; either leave or I call the cops.”
King scowled fiercely at me. “Jena-”
“I mean it,” I stated, my voice vibrating with intensity.
Apparently, I got through to him, because his face cleared. “Jena, we’re gonna talk. If you won’t talk to me tonight, then you’ll have to deal with me at a time and place of my choosing.”
Considering I was only ever at work or home, I doubted he’d have much choice.
“Whatever, King. Good-bye.”
I shut the door in his face a final time and flicked the deadbolt and the lock on the knob. It was time to put an end to being lonely. I lost Justin through no fault of my own and I left King, but I was ready to move on. I wanted a husband and family someday, and I would never have those if all I gathered around me were memories.
Chapter Thirteen
‡
Despite my resolve not to give King another thought, I tossed and turned most of the night because, ironically, he was all I could think about. When I finally did get to sleep, he haunted my dreams.
The next morning, I was determined to put King Sloan out of my mind. He’d had enough of my headspace for too long. I texted my address to Eric and told him I was looking forward to seeing him again. And I was. Last night, I’d been able to relax around him in a way I hadn’t with other men.
I went into the office and got down to work. I wasn’t swamped but I had a full load. When my cell phone buzzed on my desk, I glanced at the screen but ignored it when I saw it was King calling. I was in no mood to talk to him at nine in the morning.
Just before lunch, I looked up at the brisk knock on my door.
Marilyn was standing there, grinning at me. “I’ve got a new client for you, Jena. He asked for you specifically.”
I stood, smoothing down my blouse. “Really? Did he mention who referred him?” I was still new to the firm, so this was the first time a new client asked for me.
My feet froze, as did my face, when King’s deep voice answered my question. “A mutual friend.”
The room suddenly felt as though it were closing in on me. I couldn’t believe he had the nerve to show up at my job. I managed to recover quickly and refrain from hurling my empty coffee cup at his head.
“Hello, Alaric,” I greeted him levelly.
Though I knew he hated the name, King smiled, rocking back on his heels. “Hello, Jena.”
“Mr. Sloan needs someone to take over the accounting for his businesses,” Marilyn injected.
I narrowed my eyes. “What happened to Albert?”
“He retired,” King returned easily.
Marilyn’s eyes were bouncing back and forth between us. My boss was a smart woman and I knew she was quickly catching on to the tension in the room.
So, I pasted a smile on my face. “Well, then I guess that makes me a lucky girl.”