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She was sitting at the usual table in a silver mini dress that showcased her shapely legs. Her blonde hair fell down her back in waves, and I wondered what it would be like to touch her hair. I imagined it would feel like silk.
I was so mesmerized by Molly that I didn’t immediately recognize the man sitting opposite her. With a lurch of unpleasantness, I realized that Molly’s date was none other than Gregory.
“The fucking bastard,” I said to myself through gritted teeth.
I stalked over to my table, trying to be as visible as possible so that either Gregory or Molly would notice me enter, but neither one so much as turned their head in my direction. In fact, it looked like Gregory was utterly absorbed in Molly and vice versa. She kept laughing and touching his arm as though he were the most interesting man on the planet.
I, for one, just wanted to walk up to him and choke him. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do that before or after I kicked him out of my resort.
I sat down at my table, but my appetite had completely disappeared. When Kani appeared before me with the menu, blocking Molly and Gregory from my line of vision, I all but bit his head off. He scurried off looking confused and frightened, and I felt like a complete asshole.
“Shit, this is not good,” I muttered to myself.
I couldn’t quite believe that Molly was on a date with Gregory. I remembered all the questions Gregory had aimed at me about Molly. Now, I realized that he had an ulterior motive the whole time. I was a fool for not having caught it sooner.
I was more than a little surprised with Molly, too. Gone was the shy young girl I had first met ten years ago. She had blossomed into a woman—and a confident one at that. It was obvious that men were lining up for her, and she was taking full advantage of that fact.
I ended up ordering a couple of appetizers because I didn’t think I could stomach an entire main, but I kept twisting and turning in my seat, trying to see what Molly and Gregory were up to. Every time she smiled at him, I wanted to throw something. Every time he touched her, I wanted to walk over to him and punch him in the face. I knew I was being juvenile and petty and completely irrational, but my feelings were completely unhinged from reason, and I couldn’t seem to rein them back in.
When my starters arrived at the table, I stabbed at the ravioli angrily until I realized that I was imagining Gregory’s face. The sound of Molly’s laughter had me turning back in their direction again. This time, I snapped. Before I could check myself, I was walking towards the table where Molly and Gregory were sitting.
Chapter Twelve
Molly
I had decided to wear my silver mini dress with the lace inserts. It was sexy, yet sophisticated, and it showed just the right amount of skin. I had arranged my hair into careless waves that fell over one shoulder and had applied only light makeup with dark lipstick to complete the come-hither look. I was hoping that my outfit, in combination with my date, might bring about the reaction I was hoping for.
At the very least, Gregory seemed to appreciate my effort. “Wow,” he said, the moment I emerged from my room. “You look drop dead gorgeous.”
I smiled. “Thank you.”
He offered me his arm like a true gentleman, and we headed downstairs to Pepe Albero. I was looking forward to the meal and only slightly wary of taking Gregory as my date. But I figured either Tristan would be completely indifferent or only slightly indignant. It didn’t matter to me…much anyway. I was starting to resign myself to the fact that Tristan would never see me as anything but Jason’s little sister. He had frozen me in place in the image of the fourteen-year-old girl I had been when we had first met.
The first time I had set eyes on Tristan, he had been getting out of the car just in front of our house, and I had been hiding out in my room. He was over six feet tall, a particularly impressive feature considering that I was much shorter at the time. He had been wearing a black t-shirt and printed shorts, and his hair had that carelessly windblown look that every young aspiring model lusted after.
I had frozen the moment I saw him and the world had slowed down for a moment. And in those five seconds, I had gone from infatuation to love to longing. A part of me realized, as Gregory and I exited the elevator, that nothing had really shifted all that much since then. Ten years had passed, and it appeared I was still the same fourteen-year-old girl who was staring at Tristan, desperate for him to notice me.
“Just have fun,” I told myself harshly.
“Sorry,” Gregory asked, alerting me to the fact that I had spoken out loud. “Did you say something?”
“No,” I said quickly. “Nothing.”
We entered the restaurant, and I was shown to what had now become my usual table. I looked around subtly, but it was clear that Tristan hadn’t arrived yet. Nakoa approached with his ready smile and two menus. “Good evening, Ms. Sinclair,” he greeted. I saw him turn to my date and a glimmer of surprise flitted across his face. In the next second, however, it was gone. “And to you, as well, Mr. Winchester.”
“Thank you, my good man,” Gregory nodded, as he accepted the menu.
“Thank you, Nakoa,” I said, giving him a smile. “Any recommendations for me tonight?”
“What are you in the mood for, ma’am?”
“Something light and delicious.”
Nakoa smiled. “Might I suggest the shrimp gnocchi with salmon then?” he suggested. “It’s superb.”
“Have you tried it?” I asked, with interest.
