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I’m not going to circle back around with her. I pace around my office, an animal in a cage. I’m not supposed to see or talk to or think about Sophie again. I’m not supposed to care.
But I do. The idea that she’s on a date with some asshole who thinks he can touch her, that he can make her laugh, that she could possibly be his, gets under my skin. I loosen my tie, tighten it again, and finally rip it out from underneath my shirt collar, flinging it across the room.
Fuck. Fuck. I stare daggers at my desk. What work could I possibly lose myself in now to distract myself from this idiocy?
My eyes light upon my liquor cabinet. One drink. I need to have one drink to give myself some time to calm down. Some space to think about this.
I pour the whiskey, all of a sudden caught up in memories of Sophie in this office, sipping on a glass from this same bottle. She liked it, rolling it around in her mouth, and I was entranced by her. Lost already, even though I thought there was a way out and through the obsession if I was careful enough.
I didn’t know it then, but I’m painfully aware now. There’s no solution. No substitute. Nothing but her.
Fuck all of this.
I toss back the liquor and I’m all but running for the door.
Chapter 31
Sophie
“I could get used to this,” I joke as we’re whisked past the line of people who have been waiting for hours at the chance of getting a table or place at the bar at Catch.
“Stick with me, kid,” David jokes over his shoulder, leading me past the crush of bodies with an aplomb I didn’t notice before. He’s not as nervous as he was during our first date, and it’s… I don’t know. It’s nice, I suppose. Or maybe I’m just grasping at straws, desperate to latch on to a spark or something with him.
David’s safe. He’s not Declan. David’s someone I could actually be with without having to sneak around, and that’s… well, that’s something. Something different than what I’ve been trying and failing at. A little normalcy could be good for the soul.
David pulls my chair out for me, beating the server to it, and I laugh as he gallantly lifts my hand to his lips, kissing my knuckles delicately.
“Only the best for you, Sophie,” he says, a twinkle in his eyes as he teases me.
I smile tremulously as my stomach flip flops. Is it a butterfly? At long last? But then my stomach growls and I realize I’m just hungry. Ugh. Why can’t this be as easy as David’s making it seem?
“It’s been a while since I’ve had good sushi,” I say as he takes his seat across from me at the table. “Thanks again for making this possible.”
“All thanks go to you for texting me,” he says, eyes crinkling fondly as he smiles. “Though, I have to admit that I was pretty surprised. I didn’t think I’d hear from you again.”
I wince. “I’m sorry. I think I was focusing on the wrong things. Pouring too much of myself into my work, you know?”
“I really thought it was me you were running away from that night,” David says.
“I really, really don’t want you to think that,” I say, wishing I could just crawl under the table and hide—in spite of the lack of a tablecloth. “It definitely wasn’t you.”
“I’m just messing with you,” he assures me. “Now. Tell me the truth. Have you been back to Common Ground since I’ve been gone? Was it me or was it the lavender lattes?”
I laugh. “It definitely hasn’t felt the same since you left. And the lavender lattes? I hope this doesn’t get anyone in trouble, but they’re just not the same.”
“Okay, as a manager, that’s kind of a concern because we’re supposed to keep it consistent across the locations.” David leans conspiratorially close and grins. “But between you and me, I have a secret recipe. Something to keep them coming back.”
“Crack?” I ask brightly before we both dissolve into laughter. “Fantastic marketing. Really, kudos. Definitely going to maintain customer loyalty with that one—until you kill them all off.”
“My lattes had an extra pump of lavender syrup,” he says.
“Sugar is the same thing as crack,” I admonish him, still laughing.
This is… easy. This is the way dating is supposed to be, even as difficult as Andrea told me that she finds it. But the easy banter, the friendliness, it’s simple to be around David. Simple in ways it could never be around Declan.
But no. I’m not here to stew about Declan and compare David to him. It’s not a fair comparison, and I’m just here to have fun and forget about the man…
…scowling at me from across the restaurant.
