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Chapter 30
Remy
Sunday afternoon, Remy’s hand trembled as she checked the clock one more time. Five minutes until closing. Mikel would be here to talk after that.
She finished cleaning the espresso machine, Remy opened the cupboard with the extra coffee. The jug of almond milk was on the shelf. Crap. She’d really been distracted today. She sniffed it, checking to make sure it wasn’t spoiled before she moved it to the fridge where it belonged.
Ding!
She pulled her phone from her pocket. Lyra’s smiling face greeted her, holding a painting in the image her mother had sent. Remy had left her daughter with her grandparents for the evening. The little girl had been shocked at seeing the man she’d idolized for so many years through his pictures in the flesh. She’d just wanted to know when she could meet him.
“Why didn’t he want to talk to me?” she’d asked.
Remy had carefully explained that he did, but that Uncle Bently and Aunt Jasmine needed to talk to him about important things first. She’d seemed satisfied with the answer, but it would only hold the little girl back for so long.
The bells above the door jingled, signaling a customer. Her eyes caressed every inch of the man who seemed to swallow all the air in the room when he was around. His very presence commanded her attention. Strength and power emanated from him. New ink covered his arms, disappearing behind his short sleeves, only adding to his bad-boy aura that she’d always been drawn to. His muscles seemed larger than before, his shoulders in particular more massive than she remembered. He was the same, and yet different in so many ways.
His eyes wandered around the café before landing on her with an intensity that made her knees wobble and her secret places ache. Why did he have the ability to affect her so fiercely? The moment she had laid eyes on him, it was like a wave of rogue emotions rushed over her. A tsunami, drowning her with everything she’d stuffed down for the past five years.
“You really did it,” he said, pride glowing from those bronze eyes. “Stardust Café.”
She swallowed. A blush of self-conscious shyness seared her cheeks as her belly tumbled. “Just like we said.” Her eyes conveyed thousands of unspoken messages as they locked with his.
I never gave up on you.
I hope you found your peace.
I’m glad you came back.
I waited for you.
I’m angry with you.
I’m sorry.
I hate you.
I love you.
She set the towel down and walked around him to the front door to lock it and flip the sign to closed, breaking the trance. “Can I get you a coffee or anything?” she asked, careful not to touch him. The man was like gravity, pulling, tugging her towards him with an overpowering force.
“Sure. Coffee would be nice,” he said, his gaze following her every move.
“You still take it black?” she asked.
“Some things never change,” he said, his tone heady.
She ignored the flutter in her belly and tightness in her chest as she made his drink. Swallowing the emotion that surged, she denied herself hope.
After pouring hot water into a cup for herself, she added a tea bag. Remy didn’t need the extra stimulation—she was jittery enough. She led him to the back room where she did all her baking and decorating, not wanting to draw any town gossip from anyone peering in through the windows.
They sat in silence for a moment. She was unsure if she should speak first. A million questions swirled around in her mind, mixing and tangling with confessions on her tongue.
He took a drink before scratching his overgrown stubble and running his hand through his coal-black hair that had grown longer since she’d seen him last.
What did you say to the man you loved who’d abandoned you when you needed him most? The man who’d betrayed you in the worst possible way?
“How about you start,” she said, and then cleared her throat, setting her shaking hands on her bare thighs. “What happened after you left?”
