“There is no need to go back down memory lane. As I remember, the times weren’t so good.”
“It wasn’t all bad back then, Faith. Some of my best memories are from those days,” Reed said, breaking the silence between us.
I agreed with that sentiment, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to let him know that. I couldn’t let him steer the conversation back to no-man’s-land. I was on a mission. Instead, I switched gears.
“Even with all this?” I asked, looking around the room.
“Absolutely. I love what I do, and I’m damn good at it. There’s just something about being young and carefree that you can’t reinvent.”
“I get it,” I nodded in agreement.
Reed made it back to the table first. He pulled out the chair opposite from where he sat and waited for me to sit down. I thought that once I was seated, my nerves would settle down some, but the realization that it would be just us for the first time in forever hit me at the wrong time. When he took his seat across from me, his knee brushed against mine, making me jump.
“Relax, beautiful.”
“Don’t tell me to relax. Stop acting like this is a date, and I will.”
“I’m not trying to make you uncomfortable. It’s just hard for me not to act like I haven’t missed?—”
I held up my hand, cutting him off before he could go any further. “I knew this was a bad idea,” I said, jumping up from my seat.
“Sit down, Faith,” Reed ordered.
The sternness in his voice made me pause. The reaction annoyed me, but I humored him. Slowly, I eased back down in my seat.
“Like I said, I’m sorry. I just want you to be open-minded, baby. I’ll give you an exclusive. You can ask anything you want to ask. I want to show you that I don’t have anything to hide. I want to show you that I am still the man you fell in love with.”
“This is not that, Reed. You fucked that up. You remember that, or do I need to remind you?”
“I don’t want there to be any bad blood between us. I still love you, Faith. I’m not letting you get away from me again. I couldn’t keep you before, but I’m not letting you go this time.”
“You don’t have that choice. We are not dating. We’re not even friends. This is just business. If you can’t accept that, I can leave right now. I don’t have a problem with taking a loss. Lord knows, I’ve taken enough of them.”
There was a light knock on the door. Reed lifted his eyes from me before waving someone in. In his infinite wisdom, he’d gotten me to send him my order ahead of time so that we didn’t have to be interrupted unnecessarily during our lunch meeting.
A pair of servers placed our plates on the table before quietly dismissing themselves. I ordered the honey garlic chicken stir fry over glass noodles. There was a five-star chef working in the kitchen. He’d actually competed on a couple of my favorite TV shows. I already knew what I wanted when I picked the place.
Needless to say, the food looked good and smelled even better. I dug in while my food was still piping hot and before Reed inevitably said something to ruin my appetite. After stuffing a second forkful into my mouth, I sat back and let the perfectly marinated chicken melt on my tongue.
“Be open-minded, baby. I’ll tell you anything, but you have to give me a chance.”
I laughed. “You’re playing with me, right?”
“I’ll show you anything you want to see. I’ll answer any question you want to ask. I’ll give you anything you want, as long as you give me a chance,” he said, picking up a bottle of bourbon and refilling his drink.
“And if I say no?” I asked.
Reed was still the same arrogant asshole. He thought he could blackmail me into dating him. As sexy as he was and as horny as I was right now, I wasn’t about to prostitute myself for a story.
He shrugged as he relaxed back against his seat. “Don’t.”
“Don’t what?”
“Let’s go ahead and clear the air. Fucking up what we had has been the biggest regret of my life. I didn’t know how to tell you about the arrangement. Who even does that shit this day and age? I didn’t plan on honoring the deal. I just had to graduate from college and get out of there. My mom knew that I was backing out. That’s why she told you. She had no right getting in our business, but you didn’t deserve to find out like that. I don’t blame you for not wanting to forgive me. You shared something with me that I can never give back. I didn’t take that lightly, baby. I meant to honor my promise to you. I still do.”
“I’m not doing this,” I said, shifting to push back from the table.
Reed grabbed my wrist. His eyes dropped to my fingers as he pulled my hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to the back of it.
