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A strange noise escapes my throat and I hide it with a cough as I take our plates over and sit next to him. Drew doesn’t know how wrong that sentence is. He’ll probably be the one dumping me after this conversation.
“Tell me about New York,” I deflect, prolonging the inevitable. “Who were you working with over there?”
Drew takes his first mouthful and then smiles at me, before pressing a kiss to my temple. “Boss can cook.”
I smile down at my plate, pushing my food around. “Sometimes. When I get time after work, I like to make things from scratch. So New York?”
“We’re working on a big contract for a chain of private members clubs. We’ve had some teething issues with staffing, but it’s all getting sorted.”
“What are your team like? Do you miss them? I know you lived there for a year.” My barrage of questions is a mix of genuine interest and desperation to have something else to think about while we eat.
“I spend enough time with them when I fly over. Some more time than I’d like.”
“Oh?”
He places his fork down and takes my hand. “Look, Sophie. I’ll always be honest with you. So you should know that I have an ex there. We dated the year I was living in Manhattan. She still works for the company.”
“You dated someone you work with?”
He huffs. “Yeah, stupid idea.”
“When you lived over there?” My mind does the math. That was before we even met on that double date. “That was years ago.”
He lifts his glass as his jaw ticks. “It was. Alicia needs reminding of that sometimes.” He knocks back his water as unease curls in my gut.
“Was it serious?” I don’t even know why I’m asking, yet the words are out before I can stop them.
“Not really. I moved in with her for a while. We broke up before I came back to London. There's been the odd time we've hooked up since, but not in a long time”
They lived together?
“I appreciate your honesty. I hope it’s not awkward working with her.”
“It’s not for me,” he says matter-of-factly. “You want to tell me about yours now? Seeing as we’ve landed in the dreaded ex conversation.”
He smiles at me and the tension melts from my shoulders. He has this way of looking at me that makes me feel safe enough to open up and share anything. Like nothing I could ever say would make him think any different about me.
I pray that continues to be the case.
I abandon my dinner and rest my chin in my hand. “My ex and I were together a few months. It was casual. We saw eachother when we could, around work. It was going okay until I found his wedding ring in his pocket.”
Drew watches me carefully, his eyes darkening. “This is the guy you broke up with before Logan’s launch party?”
“Henry,” I confirm.
His jaw hardens, and I swear his teeth grind. “Asshole,” he hisses.
“I ended it the moment I found out.”
“Don’t think any of it is your fault, Sophie. Guys like him do it all the time. Walk all over the women in their lives. They don’t deserve to be spat on if they’re on fire.”
He takes a deep breath. “Sorry.” He tries to smile but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “I just hate that he treated you like that. And his wife. You both deserve better.”
“Yes, we do,” I agree, watching his sudden spike in temper cool down to a simmer.
“He hasn’t bothered you since you broke up with him, has he? Guys like that want everything their way.”
I look into his intense gaze.Honest.It’s what we promised we should be. I take a slow, deliberate breath, steeling myself for what I have to do.
