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“Go up to the pass and ask Carly to get you through the kitchen. It’s slow enough back there now that she can help you. I’ll go talk up this customer.” He jerked his head toward the dining room. “See you in a minute.”
With a slow exhale, Gavin looped his fingers around the delicate stems of the wineglasses and put them on a clean bar tray. The bottle was smooth and comforting in his hand as he headed through the glowing half-light of La Dolce Vita’s dining room, taking in the handful of still-occupied tables and quietly chatting diners. Table sixteen was a cozy little two-top, close to the front entrance. Probably a couple celebrating a birthday or anniversary, he thought as he gave the bottle a glance.
Maybe he’d get a little impulsive and take Bree somewhere really nice for her birthday next month, even round up the twins and take them all into Philly for the weekend. A grin poked at the edges of his mouth despite his weary mood. He could just hear the delighted squeals that would accompany that suggestion, followed by a deep, velvety belly laugh that he’d come up with such a good idea on his own…
Gavin’s thoughts crashed to a halt, his grip tightening over the bottle in his hand. Damn it, he needed to figure out a better way to purge Sloane from his memory, otherwise he was never going to get over this. She’d made her decision, made it weeks ago and stuck to it despite everything between them. No matter how much he hated it, he needed to get rid of everything Sloane-related in his brain, once and for all.
Starting right now.
* * *
Sloane’s cellphone buzzed softly, but the vibration in her palm was nothing compared to the jackhammer of her pulse as she read the incoming text message.
All set. 2 mins, tops. Hope you know what you’re doing. Good luck, C.
She released a shaky breath. She had noideawhat she was doing, but it didn’t matter.
She was tired of running away when things got tough. It was time to run back and trust that what she had to say was good enough.
As soon as she saw Gavin, with his crisp suit and serious-as-a-tax-audit face, her heart launched against her ribs, but she sat firmly in her seat. She might not know what she was doing, but she sure as hell knew what she wanted, and it was high time she made a decision she could stand by without changing her mind.
He looked up as he approached the table that Carly had carefully selected, stopping short a few feet away.
“You ordered this?”
Sloane nodded, eternally grateful she was sitting down. “I owe you a bottle. Since we never finished the first one.”
Gavin’s eyes flashed, dark and unreadable. “You don’t owe me anything.”
“Oh, yes, I do. But the wine isn’t the half of it.”
Now or never, now or never, now or…
“For starters, I owe you an apology. I kept things from you, and although at the time I thought I had good reasons for it, there’s no excuse for not telling you I had planned to go to Greece. I know that it hurt you and Bree, and I’m sorry.”
“You’re sorry,” he repeated, andGod,his expression was a wall of stone.
But Sloane continued, not allowing it to throw her. “The next thing I owe you is that bottle of wine. I didn’t realize it at the time, but you taught me a really valuable lesson about slowing down. So, I wanted to let you know how grateful I am by repaying the bottle you didn’t get to finish.”
“You don’t owe me anything,” he said again, and everything around her fluttered as she stood.
“You’re wrong, Gavin. I owe you everything.” Tears filled her eyes, but she didn’t fight them as they slipped silently down her face. “You trusted me with Bree, with your feelings, with all of it, and you believed in me when I didn’t even believe in myself. I should’ve trusted you back, but I was scared, and by the time I wasn’t scared, it was too late. But late is better than never, and I couldn’t let another minute go by without telling you that I’m in love with you. I don’t want to be anywhere other than with you and Bree. I don’t want to live my life jumping from one place to the next. I want you. All I want is you.”
Sloane’s throat closed around the last word, refusing to allow anything else past her lips, which was probably just as well. She ran a hand over her face, realizing that everyone within earshot was unabashedly staring at her. She forced herself to unfold her spine and lift her head.
Her days of running from the tough stuff were over.
“Anyway. I just wanted to say that.” She lowered her eyes, which only sent more tears down her face and more stares in her direction, but she was so far past caring. It was time to stick around and be accountable for her feelings rather than take off at the first sign of trouble or unease.
Even if it broke her heart in the process.
“You just ran up one hell of a bar tab.”
Gavin’s words washed over her slowly, and she blinked in confusion. “I’m sorry?”
He held up the bottle in his hand, but didn’t take his eyes off her as he said, “This is a really expensive bottle of wine. I’m just wondering if you can afford it, since last I heard, you were unemployed.”
Sloane’s brows slid together. “Oh. Well, actually—”
