Page 123 of Say My Name

“I know that too.”

His attention holds mine. The casual humor from lunch is gone now. Cliff knows both of us too well to ignore what he sees.

“When Elena lets someone in, it counts,” he says. “She doesn’t do anything halfway, even when she acts like it. If you’re getting close to her, you need to understand what you’re doing.”

An image of her laughing across this same table ten years from now flashes through my mind. Clear. Inescapable. “I do.”

“That was fast.”

“I don’t need to think about the answer.”

Cliff studies me. “You mean that?”

“Yes.”

The patio door opens behind him. Rachel steps out first with Sophie’s jacket draped over her arm. Sophie follows, holding Elena’s hand while telling her something that requires dramatic gestures.

Elena looks toward me immediately.

I look at her before anyone else, the way I have all afternoon.

Cliff follows my gaze.

He doesn’t ask for details. He simply watches us with a new awareness as Elena crosses the patio.

Then he looks at me, his expression stripped of all humor, and says quietly, “I see how you look at Elena.”

CHAPTER 17

Elena

Ispend eleven minutes staring at a three-word text before I send it.

Dominic answers in nine seconds.

Elena: Are you free tonight?

Dominic: Yes.

He doesn’t ask about my cycle, request dates, or confirm that I checked the app. He hasn’t needed a schedule to justify seeing me in months.

The doctor’s increased-frequency plan last month changed how often we try to conceive. It didn’t create the agreement that matters tonight: if either of us wants something, we say so. I ask because I miss him, and I don’t offer dinner, work, or sex as an excuse.

A little before seven, my doorbell rings.

Dominic stands in the hall with his suit jacket over one arm and a paper bag in his other hand.

“You brought dinner.”

“You invited me over on a Tuesday with no notice. I assumed this wasn’t a formal event.”

“It could be.”

His gaze travels over my bare feet, leggings, and oversized Rowe Holdings sweatshirt. A slow, appreciative heat moves through me. “Then I’m severely underdressed.”

I step aside before my smile becomes too obvious. “You’re wearing a three-thousand-dollar suit.”

“Which apparently isn’t enough to compete with that sweatshirt.”