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“What about you?” I counter.
“I’ve been in your shoes, and I let it go, but I have no time for relationships. I’m married to my work.”
“What happened?”
“It’s not important unless you’re interested in a quid pro quo.”
“You first.”
Before he could respond, the waitress interrupts us to take our orders, but when she left, I stared at Dr. Pearce, waiting.
“Dr. Pearce?”
“This is an informal setting; please call me Chase.”
“Chase.”
He takes a deep breath and starts. “I was once married, but it ended a couple of years ago, shortly after I was injured in a car accident. I couldn’t give Carrie what she needed during my recovery or even before that. In retrospect, she was superficial, and I suspected she was cheating. She wasn’t the right woman for me. We were very much in love when we first married, but my work stole my time with her. What I took away from it was never to marry someone who doesn’t have their own interests.”
“I’m sorry,” I offer. “She didn’t work?”
“Carrie was born into a family of blue bloods. She didn’t need to work. Being beautiful and rich was enough. I lived for my work, and when I refused to quit, our relationship started to degrade. The accident was just the last straw.”
“It sounds like you were drawn in by her looks, not her character.”
“Carrie had her charms. She was generous to charitable organizations, but that’s as far as it went. She didn’t give herself, only her money. I was blinded by her philanthropy, hoping it would morph into something else. It turns out I was wrong. Your turn.”
I clear my throat, gently chewing on my cheek before I answer. “I dated Jeremy for a little over two years. He was sweet and worked for a hedge fund. He wasn’t the typical guy that I go for, but he had a great sense of humor. I know he loved having me on his arm too. We lived together for a while, but our relationship seemed to go stale. Then he just ended it. He said we needed space. I thought we were heading for marriage.”
“Did he break your heart?”
“Yes and no. I was in love with him, but not like I was when we first started dating. I was blindsided by him breaking up with me. He just came out one day and said it wasn’t working out. No discussion, no nothing. That was it. I didn’t want to stay in New Jersey after that. I applied to Nolan and was hired, so I decided to move to Manhattan.”
“Sounds like he didn’t realize what he was giving up.”
Again, I feel the creep of a blush working its way up my face. I thank God our waitress arrives with our food and ends the conversation for us. We’re both quiet while we eat, and when we both reach for the salt at the same time, our hands touch, causing us to withdraw as if burned.
“I’m sorry, you can use it first,” Chase says.
“Thank you.”
After I lightly salt my steak, I slid the shaker over to him. Glancing up, I catch his hypnotic eyes, watching my every move—those damn blue eyes.
“That’s a large steak for someone so small,” he comments, looking me over.
“You’d be surprised at what I can pack away. Unfortunately, I let it get out of control when I was with Jeremy and gained about twenty pounds. I think deep down, he was insecure and wanted me to gain weight so his friends wouldn’t look at me so much.”
“Did it work?”
“If anything, they looked more. I became curvier than I am now.”
Chase laughs. The deep richness of it was somehow as disarming as his smile. Despite everything he’s done until now, I felt so oddly comfortable with him that I thought I could ask about his accident.
“Chase, can I ask you a personal question?”
“It depends on what it is but ask.”
“How did you get injured?”
