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He startled, swiveling his stool until he faced me. I took pleasure in the neck ache he’d have come morning for having to strain to gaze up at me. “Ah, yeah. Do I know you?”
“I’m a friend of Leland’s,” I said, which cleared his leeriness away. “You live around here?”
“Oh, no. I’m a student at Cooper Union. Finishing my undergrad this summer. It’s not too far from here. I came in for the grand opening with a friend. Been here four times since,” he said sheepishly. “Drinks are good. Food too.”
“I do hope that’s the only thing you’re coming in here for, becauseheisn’t on the menu.” I traveled my stare to Leland, who made polite conversation with the folks at a nearby table, and Alex followed. I stepped in closer, forcing his back into the bar. “Cooper Union, right?” I didn’t wait for him to answer. “Education is important, and I’m in search of new philanthropic opportunities. Maybe I’ll swing by there some time.” I crowded him in further, adding a hint of threat to my whisper. “Perhaps I’ll run into you when I do.”
“Th-that would be great,” he said in a shrill tone.
“Enjoy your drink, Alex,” I said before exiting. Some things about me may have changed, but some would always remain the same. Leland was mine.
Chapter 32
Leland
Ambient music played below the din of hushed conversation in the restaurant. The hostess led me to the corner table where Cole already waited, scowling down at his phone.
“Your father would have stood for me,” I said dryly, hesitating before taking the seat across from him. I’d considered taking the one next to him—the one reserved for Jasper, if only so I wouldn’t have to sit next to Franky and be subjected to feeling his heat. But then I’d be stuck facing him, stuck watching him, and stuck with him watching me. I didn’t know which fate was worse.
Cole chuckled, setting his phone on the table. “Isthatwhat it’ll take to get you to come around? Standing for you? Wish I would’ve known sooner. Maybe I’ll even throw in a curtsy next time.”
I laughed in return, a sharp pain poking me in the heart. I missed him. Missedthis.Our easy banter. “I’m here now, aren’t I?” I asked. “Even though fancy places make me itch.” I tugged at the collar of my button up. My back was to the front of the French restaurant, and I glanced toward the entrance. “Where is everyone?”
“They’ll be here soon. We’re early,” Cole said.
“I see.” He’d given me an earlier arrival time so we could speak alone.
“Jasper tells me I’m overbearing where you’re concerned. Too needy—”
“Are you sure that’s not his jealousy talking?” I asked with a grin.
“Is it?” he asked, the tealight candle at the center of the table throwing shadows across his big baby blues. “I think I have been coming on too strong lately, but we were thick as thieves back in Seattle. You were there for me when no one else was, not even my father.” He pressed his forearms into the table. “You’ve always been a private person. I get that. I don’t like it, but I get it. But something’s changed. Ever since Jasper and I got back together…” He trailed off, as if not wanting to think his relationship had caused a rift in our friendship. “I just don’t want you to think I don’t have room in my life for you both.”
“I know that, Cole. I love that you finally got your happily ever after. And I love Jasper. Trust me, what’s going on with me has nothing to do with you.” The lie was out before I could comprehend the dishonesty in my words. What I was dealing with had everything to do with him, just not in the way he thought.
“If I come around more often will you promise to stop pretending you’re into all of this wedding planning crap?” I said, lightening the mood.
“Is it obvious that I’m using it as an excuse to connect with you?”
“As obvious as the boner that springs in your pants whenever Jasper enters a room.” We laughed, raising eyebrows, and damn it felt good. I had to find a way to make this work, even if that meant finding a way to coexist with Franky.
Our server came by with a bread basket and a carafe of water, upturning our glasses and filling them before nodding and striding off.
“So what time will the two of them be getting here?” I discreetly checked my watch. I had less than an hour before Noon’s rescue text would come in. It would’ve been nice to at least get through an appetizer before ditching my entrée.
“Jasper’s finishing up with a client, but his office is a short walk from here. My father’s date ended twenty minutes ago, so he should be here soon—”
“Date?”I asked, voice loud and cracking unintentionally on the word. My jealousy made me forget where I was and who I was speaking with. “I mean, isn’t he too old to be dating?” I said calmly, as if I didn’t care much but wanted to make conversation.
“I’m fifty-three and virile,” Franky’s steel voice corrected me from behind, causing me to sputter the sip of water I’d just taken. I went rigid as he slid onto the chair next to me.
“I could have done without hearing that,” Cole complained while I shook out my folded cloth napkin to dry my mouth and the front of my shirt.
“And it wasn’t a date,” Franklin said to his son, then to me he said, “It was a business meeting.”
Cole scoffed. “Does he know that?”
He.I didn’t have the good sense needed to maintain the pretense of not giving a fuck. “Who’she?” I asked Franky. He wore navy slacks with a matching collared shirt, and he smelled like heaven and sin. Yeah, sitting next to him was not the brightest of ideas, especially when it meant I couldn’t hide my reaction to him from Cole.
