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She ignored his devilish, tempting grin, which wasn’t easy. “I have work to do too, you know.”
“Yeah, yeah. So do I.” Before he left, he turned. She felt his eyes raking over her black pencil skirt and red silk button-down shirt. “Proud of you, G. I mean it.”
“Thank you.” She meant that, too.
His lips pulled into a quick, tight-lipped smile, and then he left the office, and left her to wonder if maybe they had both changed over the last few years after all.
After promising champagne to the staff, Jayson considered that he and Gia hadn’t yet properly celebrated their win. Yes, it was a team effort, blah, blah, blah, but she deserved to toast to her accomplishments in private, and without having to put on her work face.
Outside her house, he rang the doorbell, which felt odd considering he used to live here. But as they’d established recently, they were no longer the same people who used to live here. She’d changed since then, and so had he. Now they were somewhere in the middle, and he wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad thing.
The door opened and there stood his ex-wife, in that same scintillating red shirt that hugged her breasts. She’d kicked off her shoes in favor of bare feet, which he liked even more.
“Did I black out? Is it Saturday already?” Her eyes went to the champagne bottle, tied with a gold bow—the biggest one he’d been able to find at the convenience store. “What’s this?”
“It’s a bow.” He flicked the fringed ribbon. “I was going to go with red to match your shirt, but this one matches the label.” He spun the bottle to show her a familiar gold label.
“My favorite.”
“It’s the same brand I chose for the party for the team. It got me thinking that you and I never celebrated.”
She chewed on her lip, considering.
“Can I come in?”
“Only because it’s my favorite champagne and I could never turn it down. Which I’m sure you knew.”
“Guilty.” He smiled.
“One glass.” She stepped aside for him to come in. There was a candle lit in the kitchen, soft music playing from a speaker in the living room.
“Feels different in here.” Like it used to, he thought, but didn’t say. She had a way of putting her feminine stamp on everything. He hadn’t been able to achieve this sort of warm, welcoming vibe at his apartment. It still felt stale and drab.
“I had to air out the stench of defeat.” She sent him a feisty smile as she reached for the handle on a tall cabinet. “You didn’t have to give me credit for fixing the glitch, by the way.” Her T-shirt rode up and exposed her flat, tan belly.
He set the champagne aside, the bottle sweating from the ride over in the car, and placed a chilly hand on the side of her waist.
“Your hands are freezing!” she shrieked. She swatted him away but there was a playful glint in her eyes.
“Never could resist that move.” He eased her to one side and pulled down the pair of fluted glasses.
“I could’ve done that,” she mumbled.
“Yes, but I’m here so you didn’t have to.” He handed the stemware over, upside down. When she took them in her hands, she brushed his fingers. An innocent touch, but his heart mule-kicked his chest in response.
“They don’t get a lot of use. That cabinet is high.” That was her way of saying thank you, he guessed. Or avoiding mentioning that those were the very champagne flutes they’d toasted with at their wedding.
Had Gia been anyone else he might have been surprised that she hadn’t thrown out every item that had anything to do with them, but she’d never been petty.
She rinsed out the glasses and took her time drying them while he unwrapped the foil from the neck of the bottle. When he moved to twist off the cork she stopped him with one hand.
“Wait! Don’t you want to...” She gestured outside.
“Risky.” He pretended to deliberate.
“Worth it,” she said before dashing outside.
In the backyard, he angled the bottle so the cork would shoot into the privacy fence rather than into the sky—a mistake he’d made once before with near disastrous consequences. He twisted the cork so that it was halfway out and then popped it with his thumb. It sailed over the pool and hit the privacy fence with a soft thump.
