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“It’s been a week.”
He gave me a dopey smile. “A week can feel like a lifetime, future ex-wife. So, what can I get you on this now perfect morning?”
“Um, I . . .” I shook my head, trying to clear my mind. “I’ll just have a coffee for now.”
He stared at me with wide, unblinking eyes for long seconds before murmuring, “If I knew you were boring, I wouldn’t plan our entire future every time I see you.”
“Ethan . . . I start off with the same thing every time.”
“And it kills me every time.” He clutched his chest as though my order was literally killing him. “I’m waiting for the day when I walk up and ask what I can get you, and you say, ‘You, Ethan. I’ve been waiting for you.’ My heart can’t take that you aren’t here for me.”
I rolled my eyes at his dramatics but forced a smile. “Sorry to disappoint you.”
“I’m divorcing you before we can get fake married.”
“Is the divorce taking place before or after coffee?” I asked warily.
“Depends,” he mused, then leaned down so he was closer to my level. “Let me take you out to dinner sometime, and maybe I’ll reconsider divorcing you.”
I started to smile for his sake but froze halfway. I was dumbfounded when I realized that—for once—Ethan wasn’t joking.
It’d been Kieran and me for as long as I could remember—since long before either of us knew how to flirt.
None of the other guys of Holloway had ever flirted.
None of them had ever crossed a line with me sexually.
If any of them had ever been remotely attracted to me, I hadn’t had a clue because they all valued their lives.
The most attention I’d ever received from another guy had been Ethan’s jokes and a stranger’s notes . . . so I didn’t know how to handle someone asking me on a date, when I’d never expected another man to have the nerve to.
“I’m sorry . . . but I—”
“What do you say?” he asked, cutting me off. “I know a place that—”
I shook my head and hurried to stop him. “I’m sorry, I can’t. Thank you for the offer, but I have a boyfriend.”
“Oh.” Ethan stared at me, then dropped his gaze to the table. He shrugged and forced a smile that wasn’t nearly as charming as usual. “Well, hey, coffee’s on the house today . . .”
“That isn’t necess—”
“I insist.” He held up a hand as he began backing away and gave me a look that made me once again think of him as a golden retriever. “Boyfriend or not, I have to take care of my future ex-wife.”
Unsure of how to respond to him, I mumbled, “Thanks, Ethan.”
I sucked in a quick breath when electricity trickled over my skin like a dance. Everything I’d been hoping and waiting for earlier but knew I needed to avoid. As if compelled, I turned toward the source of that addictive, unexplainable feeling, but stopped when I saw a girl walking toward my booth.
Teagan.
The corner of her lip curled in a smirk when she saw me, but she didn’t speak until she got closer.
“Sorry I’m late.”
“You’re not, I just finished ordering coffee. How are you?” I asked as my eyes darted over her face and arms, my words getting lost in the noise of the café.
She lifted a shoulder in a nonchalant shrug. “Hungry.”
I sent her a look that she ignored, but really, I didn’t know what other response I expected from her.
