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“Oh, if I’d been looking where I was going, I would have seen ya,” she says.“This your fella?” she asks.
I glance at Hayes; he’s grinning from ear to ear. My heart flutters. He’s a goddamn dangerous combination of overbearing and sweet.
I’m addicted to him.
I miss being his woman and everything that meant.
I get near him and I lose my mind. I’m close to giving him whatever he asks for. Close. But …
I smile serenely and say, “Not quite,” to Sally. His hand tightens around my middle.
“Well, if you’re not sure …” She gives Hayes a suggestive sidelong glance and wink.
I laugh.
She looks back at me with an indignant glare. “Honey, if I was just twenty years younger, you wouldn’t be able to fight me for him. They don’t make men like this anymore. I suggest you get sure real quick.” She winks and strides off into the restaurant.
“Yeah. Get sure quick, Tesoro.” Hayes’s lips brush my ear, and his breath makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and my insides quiver. His hand slides along my waist and comes to rest on my abdomen. It takes up almost the entire space, and when he pulls me back into him, I feel like I’m melting.
“I miss you touching me, baby.” I let my head fall back and rest on his shoulder.
“Hayes Garfield Rivers, you are in public!” An irate voice from ahead of us breaks the trance and we jump apart.
“Gigi,” Hayes says and steps around me toward the dark haired, hazel-eyed beauty who but for the fact that he called her his aunt, I would never believe was old enough to be.
She glares at him. “Don’t you dare use that voice on me, Hayes,” she scolds even as she throws her arms open to welcome his hug. I watch as she embraces him, smacks his shoulders and then wraps her arms around him. He lifts her off her feet. Her eyes, closed from the instant they touch, pop open and they’re assessing and shrewd as they run over me from head to toe. She’s dressed in a navy skirt topped with a white tailored shirt with a patent-leather, nude-colored belt cinched around her Audrey Hepburnesque waist. Suddenly, my cut-off shorts are both too casual and too short. My white camisole too revealing and my flip-flops, completely inappropriate.
When our eyes meet, I smile my best smile and thank God I tied my unruly hair back so that at least I don’t look completely unkempt. My shoulders sag with relief when a smile—warm and real—blooms across her face.
She disengages herself from Hayes and comes toward me, arms outstretched. “Well, Hayes, look what you did. She’s as pretty as a picture,” she says to him as she wraps me in a hug that smells and feels like comfort and love. It makes me long for my mother. I wish she could see this place.
“I’m Gigi, Confidence,” she says warmly. “I think we’re going to be great friends.” She hooks an arm through mine.
* * *
Hayes doesn’t let go of my hand when I try to tug it free of his. He draws it into his lap and holds it there with the other one on top of it. I look at him to demand it back, but my words die on my lips.
He’s laughing at something his aunt just said. His head is thrown back, his teeth gleaming, his eyes closed, and I can envision my future. What life could feel like if I spent it with him. Happy, holding hands, with family who fusses, but forgives. In nice suburban cafes that smell like bread and coffee. And where everyone is welcome, especially me. So, I don’t pull my hand back. Instead, I squeeze his and rejoin the conversation just as our server comes and takes our orders.
Hayes jumps slightly and then lets go of my hand.
“What’s wrong?” I ask. My hand feels cold without his sandwiching it. He fishes into the pocket of his jeans and pulls out his phone.
“I’m sorry, I’ve got to take this. I’ve been expecting this call for two days,” he says. He slides out of the booth and strides toward the entrance.
I watch him go. His sky-blue polo neck T-shirt bunches across his broad shoulders as he turns to squeeze between the tightly packed tables. His jeans sit low on his hips and hug that fine ass of his.
“I don’t blame you, sister,” Sally calls from a couple of tables ahead of us.
I jump slightly and blush at being caught ogling. I look at Gigi and smile. She doesn’t smile back. In fact, the friendly light in her eyes disappears completely. My throat convulses in surprise and dread.
“Is everything okay?” I ask.
“I need to ask you some things, right now before Hayes comes back,” Gigi says the minute he’s out of earshot.
“Okay ...” I say and glance toward the door at Hayes.
“I have a check in my purse for one million dollars. If I gave it to you, would you leave and never bother Hayes again?” she asks.
