Page 49 of Manhattan Kiss

“It means we have chemistry.”

We fall silent as the waiter brings our food, but our gazes are locked like we’re just on pause, waiting to be left alone.

Is this just lust? The question swirls in my brain.

I’ve felt lust before, but this?

It’s more intense.

The waiter disappears.

Aurora’s mouth turns up at the corner.

“Tell me everything about you,” I say.

She laughs, and I can’t take my eyes off the way her chin tips up a little as she does. “Where shall I start?”

“Anywhere. What do you like to do on weekends? Have you ever parachuted out of an plane? Who was your first love?”

Her smile dims a little, and I wish I could stuff the last question back in.

Except I don’t. Because I want to know how he got it wrong so I don’t make the same mistake.

“I’ve never jumped out of a plane. On weekends, I like to hang out with my best friend, her kids, and her husband, and…I’m not sure if I’ve been in love before.” She presses her lips together. “But I had an epic crush.” She laughs. “My best friend’s older brother. He lives in New York now, actually.”

Panic crawls under my collar. “You have an epic crush on a guy who lives in Manhattan?”

“My crush is long gone. We grew up together. We never even dated. He moved to the States years ago. He’s married now.”

“Happily married, I hope.” I sound more irritated than I should.

Aurora has the grace to laugh. “Very happily married. I like her very much. They have two children.”

“So it’s a buried crush?”

“Not buried. Expired. He’s like a brother to me now. He always was, I think. No more crush.”

I nod approvingly, and Aurora laughs again. “Tell me about your love life. What happened with your daughter’s mother?”

“I wasn’t in love with her. We had a thing, the condom split, and she got pregnant.”

“That’s it? You said that already. Was your thing serious? Who called it off? I want the details, Deacon.” She smiles teasingly at me.

They feel like ridiculous questions, but I can’t blame her for asking. From the outside, it’s easy to presume that Gabby and I were serious about each other, but we never were. Even when we were living together, there was no real intimacy. There was plenty of sex. But we weren’t close.

“I’m not withholding details, honestly. There’s just nothing much to tell. We weren’t serious. If Willow hadn’t come along, Gabby and I would have gone our separate ways a long time ago. And there wasn’t a huge breakup. I think we both realized it wasn’t going to work. She officially ended it, but no hearts were broken. That’s probably why it’s so amicable between us now.”

“Do you ever think it might be nice if you reconciled and were a family again?”

I pause to think about my response.

“Tell me what you’re thinking,” she says.

If anyone else had said this to me, I would have silently committed them to the “never want to speak to them again” bucket in my brain and then never spoken to them again. It hits different with Aurora. There’s something in her soft gaze that tells me she really wants to know. Her tone feels warm and safe. I want to tell her, and I never want to tell anyone anything.

I shrug. “I don’t want to be with Gabby. That’s true. But I wish I could have given Willow a more traditional family. One that Willow will be able to look back on and have happy memories of.”

“And you don’t think she’ll have happy memories now?”