My stomach turned. “Briefly,” I replied.
Even though I wanted it to be longer. Even though that heartbreak sent me on a warpath that ended me up here.
Rachel hummed. “And you’re not over it.”
I straightened in my stool, the words landing like a needle to the heart. Being on the receiving end of someone equallyas shrewd as me was a lot less fun than freely dispensing my observations. In other words, no—I didnotlike the taste of my own medicine.
WasI over it?
Sure. It had been seven years since we broke up, and four since I saw him last. I’d have to be a lunatic to still be in love with him. And it’s not as if I didn’t go out with other men in New York, either—albeit not many survived the first date.
It didn’t matter if some of them recommended a career change to an FBI interrogator. I hadstandards.
“Of course I’m over it,” I replied mechanically.
“Ah.” Rachel wagged a knowing finger at me. “First loves, and all that.”
Yes, that explained it. Not the fact that the boy I was head over heels for most of my life crushed me to a pulp.
She clucked her tongue. “He’s coming over. Not lying this time.”
Alright. I could do this. I’d stared down sleep-deprived, mildly unstable authors after informing them we weren’t budging on their contract. I’d successfully climbed the greased, shifting rungs of the corporate ladder.
Teddy Bowman was nothing.
“Georgie and I are grabbing lunch,” he said, leaning on the bar, far too close for comfort. “Coming along, M?”
All I needed to do was say no. It was as simple as that.
“Sure.”
CHAPTER THREE
My lips would soon end up permanently twisted into a scowl. Maybe that was what my mother meant when she always warned, “Be careful, or your face will freeze like that.” If my Resting Annoyed Face was genetic, it definitely didn’t come from her.
“—so the bride is freaking out, saying her wedding is ruined, all because their venue in Santorini cancelled at the last minute.” A smile stretched across his face as he leaned in across the booth table like he was about to dispense a delicious secret. “But the Agia Anna Chapel I’d found a week before? Only an hour-long ferry away.”
Georgie smacked a hand over her mouth. “And they got married there?”
“With an ocean backdrop that waspureazure.”
She sighed in a particularly wistful manner. I nearly kicked her under the table as if to say, “Don’t encourage him.”
“So all their guests had nowhere to go. How romantic,” I said, biting back the roll of my eyes.
Teddy seemed lost in thought. “See, that’s what was really beautiful. They just threw their plans to the wind, and ended up having the wedding of their dreams.”
“I’m sure their friends and family thought the same thing when they couldn’t refund their trip,” I retorted.
“Life doesn’t happen on a timeline.”
I scoffed. “You’re right. Gallivanting all over the world is the only thing to life.”
We stared at each other, his eyebrows knitted together in that adorable and frustrating and clueless way. The Margot he knew didn’t fight him.Shewas hopelessly in love with Teddy, her childhood best friend who waxed lyrical about all his dreams like the most precious secrets in the world. Those sparkling eyes undid me every time.
If only she knew that none of his dreams included her.
“Alright, guys,” Georgie cut in with a weak laugh. “Let’s take a deep breath, okay?”
