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Devin hadn’t been lusting after Zoe that entire time, but his attraction to her had grown and grown, from the spark he first felt at her high school graduation to this inferno now. The other night, first at Harvest Home and then later at the bar, he’d kept losing sight of who she was. She stopped being his best friend’s sister or Arthur’s niece. She’d become just… Zoe. Gorgeous, easy-to-talk-to, smart, funny, empathetic Zoe.
While Devin’s thoughts spun out, Arthur kept regarding him with that steady, patient gaze of his. Finally, he sat back and exhaled long and low.
“Have I ever told you the story of how I ended up here?”
Only about a million times.
Devin managed not to thunk his head against the table. “Yeah.”
“All of it?”
“I don’t know,” Devin said carefully.
“My family, when we came over, we started in San Francisco.”
“Right.”
“Moved to New York from there. It was crowded. Dirty. We worked hard, lived in a tiny apartment. Huilang and David and me with our parents.” Huilang being Han, Lian, and Zoe’s mom, and David their distant uncle.
“Okay…”
“I was the one who decided to set out and go somewhere else. Not an easy decision.”
“I’m sure.” There was no stopping Arthur now, so Devin strapped in for the ride.
“My father. He told me it would be big trouble if I left.”
Devin perked up. This was a part of the story he hadn’t heard before. “Really?”
Arthur nodded. “He had so many reasons it wouldn’t work. He thought I was betraying the family by leaving them behind.” He smiled, knowing and maybe just a little smug. “But I knew. There were more reasons to go. And you know what?”
“What?”
“I was right.” He waved a hand around. “Look what I’ve been able to accomplish. I had a great career.” He had, starting the Jade Garden restaurant. Socking away cash and making a whole series of unlikely investments that had enabled him to open this place and grow it year after year. “Brought my sister and her husband down here with me, and they’ve had happy lives. We all have.”
“Okay…”
Arthur fixed him with a gaze like he could see right through Devin. Could he? Did he know more than he was letting on?
If he did, he kept it to himself. “You can’t let fear push you around. Worrying about what other people will think, what other people will do. It leaves you miserable. This girl—if she means enough to you, you go to her. You find a way to make it work. No matter what anybody else says, you hear me?”
For a split second, Devin considered it. He let go of all his concerns about Han and Arthur and Zoe’s mom.
He let himself imagine going for it. Being with Zoe. Having her in his arms, talking to her the way he had the other night. Celebrating a great game of pool with a kiss.
Taking her to his bed.
A jolt of electricity zipped down his spine.
Yeah. He wanted that. All of it.
But before he could really talk himself into believing he could have it, a deep voice broke in.
“Wait—Devin’s got a girl?”
All the hope that had started to rise in Devin’s chest came crashing down. He turned to find Han in the doorway.
Right. Crap. It was Tuesday. Han or his mom or both—they always came by in the late afternoon.
