And with every transformation she’d made, from playful to pained, bitchy to endearing, I followed her lead, dancing the only way I knew how.
She was confused and completely off-kilter. Hell, that made two of us. But if she wasn’t halfway back to Savannah by now, the door wasn’t locked for me and Remi. Based on the way she’d gotten lost in my eyes with every glance, she barely had it propped closed with the resolve of a feather.
I wouldn’t bulldoze my way through. Nothing would shut her down faster. But a gentle knock to remind her how fucking good we were together couldn’t hurt.
So there I was, sucking down secondhand smoke like it was the latest and greatest health trend and gabbing on about the fifteen percent chance of rain heard around the world, just for the chance to run into her again.
It was past eight by the time I caught sight of her blond hair flowing in the breeze as she walked through the crosswalk. She was gorgeous in a cream silk long-sleeve shirt, black slacks tapered at the ankle, and a pair of mile-high heels. I loved Remi and all her dresses, but there was something about her in pants and heels that made my mouth water.
The street was busy and well lit, but I still hated like hell that she was making that trek alone. Whatever. That was a conversation we could have the next morning when I went with a not-so-gentle knock and showed up to walk her to her morning meetings.
“Well, well, well. Look who it is,” I said, meandering her way.
She let out a sigh and rolled her eyes. It would have been insulting had the smallest of smiles not given her away. “Don’t you dare try to pretend this was fate too.”
I smirked and fell into step beside her. “Can you prove it isn’t?”
“You knew I’d have to come back eventually. Short of walking around the entire block to the back entrance of the hotel, this was my only route.” She curled her lip. “Jesus, you stink. Were you smoking?”
I waited for both of us to make it through the revolving doors before I replied, “No, but after the first hour of pacing around the entrance, the valet kept eyeballing me like I was trying to steal a car. So I was forced to sit with the smokers.”
She continued walking but swung her pretty blue eyes my way. “The first hour? How long have you been waiting?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Since I skipped out on my last lecture around four thirty.”
She chuffed. “Does fate usually make you wait that long?”
“Sometimes. It’s had me waiting almost two years for you. Three hours didn’t seem so bad.”
She abruptly stopped, guilt filling her face. Not the fun and flirty kind of reaction I had been going for, but at least she gave me one. I could work with anything as long as it wasn’t the silence of the last few months.
“Bowen, I—”
I didn’t let her finish. I owed her this separation and respected her need for self-discovery. The guilt wasn’t hers to carry. “You’re getting back pretty late. The real estate world must be a lot more fascinating than accounting.”
She blew out a ragged breath and thankfully started walking again. “Was that ever even in question? It’s geek central over here.” She flashed me a smile that hit me square in the chest.
God, I’d missed that crazy, beautiful woman.
I had to clear the emotion from my throat before I could speak. “You haven’t even met the fellas from the group text yet.”
She laughed softly, and while her breath never touched my skin, the sound washed over me with the comfort of home.
When she veered to the elevators, panic smacked me in the face. I wasn’t ready to let her go yet. A two-minute walk from the front door up to her room wasn’t nearly enough. But then again, I feared a lifetime with Remi wouldn’t be enough, either.
“Any chance you’ll let me buy you dinner?”
She hissed through her teeth. “I already ate. We had a luau banquet thingy tonight. There was a whole limbo competition and everything.”
Well, shit.
“Wow, I’m not sure that helps your theory about real estate being cooler than accounting. What about a drink?”
She stopped again. “I…uh, don’t think that’s a good idea, Bowen.”
I did. I thought it was a really fucking good idea, one I would do anything to make happen. “One drink. Just two friends catching up. We can do that, right?” It made me an asshole, but the indecision on her face had my pulse skyrocketing. I didn’t want to be just two friends, either, but I’d take what I could get. “Come on. You still talk to Aaron and that works out okay for you. This could work too.”
She canted her head. “Even more interesting is how I know for a fact you still talk to Aaron. He told me you bamboozled him into a family dinner the other night.”
