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"Damn. Has anyone told you lately how beautiful you are?" His comment made my eyes snap up to meet his, both shocked by his frank comment, convinced he was toying with me.
"Hmm. I call bullshit," I snickered, my heart ignored my head and thudded against my chest at the compliment anyway. I looked over his shoulder toward the door then back to him. Twisting my lips, I gave him a wry smile, because I'd felt foolish for allowing his comment to schmooze me a little.
For a few moments, we sat in silence before I flashed a wry smirk his way. "There was no woman, was there, Sawyer? If that's even your real name. And if there was, I think it's safe to say you can leave now," I added and forced myself to dismiss him.
Not wanting to see his reaction, I looked away, feeling foolish, and watched the waitress collect some glasses like my curiosity toward him had run its course.
"Oh, yes, ma'am, she was there. And the name that I gave you is real," he replied, chuckling. "Trust me, she was real, all right," he told me, his eyes turning wide and round, the implication in his voice telling me he thought she was a handful. "Anyhow, what kind of husband lets his beautiful woman frequent bars on her own?" He nodded at my wedding band, the last visible evidence of my life before.
I had no idea why I still wore the ring, despite everything I'd been through with Logan. Perhaps it had been a subconscious effort to fend off unwanted advances from men who might think as a soon-to-be divorcée, I'd be desperate to jump into another relationship.
My hand instantly left my wine glass and I twisted the gold ring that had once meant the world to me while his eyes studied me carefully.
"The cheating kind who used to love me and left his wife and his child with broken hearts." I cringed when I heard myself say this aloud to a stranger.
"Jesus, darlin' what the …" he sighed and shook his head. "Fuck … I'm sorry, that was my bad. This isn't my business and I'm sorry for the intrusion," he offered. His boyish cocky demeanor instantly changed, and I felt angry with myself for blurting it out like that. I had been lost for a few minutes in his attention, but his question about my wedding ring immediately reminded me they sat mere feet away from me.
My tablemate had the grace to look embarrassed when he realized he'd hit a raw nerve.
"It's fine," I snapped. My tone sounded in direct opposition to my words. "It's just … he's here in this wine bar—with her, I'd bet."
"You followed him?"
"Hell no. Just an unlucky coincidence."
"Fuck."
"Yeah," I agreed. "Since he left I've managed to avoid him. All communication has gone through our lawyers, all visitation arrangements for our son, through his parents or a third party … until today. Then …" I looked out of the window and silently cursed the relentless pouring rain and the lump that had threatened to form in my throat. "This had been the one day when I'd felt strong enough to get on with my life and fate threw me under a bus. How many people are there in New York? How many bars?" I asked, leaving the rest for him to connect the dots and still reeling from my bad luck.
"Seriously?" he asked, leaning over the table toward me, his head turning as he scanned the crowded room, even though he had no idea who he was looking for.
"Go figure, huh?" I asked and heaved a sigh. "What are the chances of this? This has been the one day I'd felt brave and Logan decides to mess up my determined attempt at being single."
"Has he seen you?"
"Yep, and he approached me, too. Probably couldn't resist it. I imagine he wanted to find out why I was hanging out in a wine bar alone. Oh, and despite the fact he's with his new woman, he wants me to give him an hour of my time."
Sawyer scoffed, which confirmed my thoughts on the matter exactly. "Does he think he deserves it?"
"According to him, ten good years gives him the right to that hour."
"And how do you feel about this?"
"Not even if he let the whole New York Yankee baseball team ride him bareback," I retorted.
Sawyer threw his head back and laughed loudly, and I cringed at the attention he drew, and instantly scanned the room to see who was looking at us. When I glanced back at him, a grin spread on my lips with how infectious his low rumbly laugh had sounded. Despite my dismay, my heart felt lighter for his reaction.
When his eyes met mine again, they widened in surprise like he'd had an idea and he slapped his hand on the table next to mine. His expression turned serious, his gaze intense as he shook his head.
"Damn, I'm pissed at him and I don't even know him. Any man who cheats on the woman he takes an oath to should be castrated with a set of rusty bolt cutters," he said, angrily. "Makes me so goddamn mad, because it gives the rest of us dudes a bad name. This happened a year ago, you said? You still sound pretty beaten up about it."
"It was a year ago next week," I replied. My heart clenched because I sounded like one of those desperate women who counted things down to the minute. I wondered why I'd even told him this, and deduced the wine must have loosened my tongue.
"You think he's looking at us?"
"Probably, after the way you just laughed," I guessed, considering this for the first time, and thinking he was most likely scoffing about us being together.
"Hmm. Gotta wonder what's going through his mind right now, seeing you with me?"
