I raised my eyebrows with an impressed look. Glenfiddich was one of our nicest scotches in house. I hadn’t had one customer order it since I started working there. “Glen? Really?”
“Yeah. Seems like the fancy type. Probably the opposite of what you go for.”
With that, she spun, heading for the bar, my forced laugh following her the whole way. She had no idea what type I went for. Broody, tattooed, impossible to forget. But working with Vicki was even more fun than it had been with Tim, who wouldn’t even consider me coming back to work since my doctor told me to take a leave. I, of course, didn’t mention any of that nonsense to Vicki at my interview. And I also didn’t mention the fact that I was working again at my doc appointment that very morning.
I went up to the bar to grab my newest patron’s drink, only getting a glance at the back of his longer hair curling over the crisp collar of his shirt. On my way over to him, the old couple waved me down, so I made a stop at their table before I went to his. They’d finally put a card in their billfold, so I grabbed it and promised to be back in a few minutes. Then I went to the hunk’s table, which was in the dimly lit back corner of the restaurant. The way his head was tilted down, I couldn’t quite make out his face in the bad lighting when I set his drink on the table.
Then he looked up and smiled at me, his sharp cheekbones catching the dim light just right, his highlighted hair gleaming in it. My heart stopped working, my blood running cold.
I had prepared myself. I was prepared for my parents to show up if the picture of me got out—it hadn’t, which I knew because I checked every social media outlet, every online news website, every single day—but I hadn’t even considered him coming. I was lucky I’d already set his drink down since my hands had begun to shake.
“You don’t look very excited to see me,” he drawled, picking up his drink while he gave me a once-over. That one look made me feel dirtier than I ever had, which said a lot, considering how I’d lived my life over the last three years.
He sipped his drink. My mouth opened and closed, but there was no way I would be getting any words out anytime soon. His gaze rested on my belly when he set the glass back down. He tsked, shaking his head while playing with the rim of the glass. “Looks like you had no problem opening your legs once you left.”
That finally woke me from the shock of seeing him, my living nightmare, in person for the first time in three years. “What are you doing here?” I asked, going for intimidating, but it came out as a whisper.
Head tilted, he smirked. “Isn’t it obvious, Chloe? I came here to get my fiancée who’s been missing the last three years.”
“I am not your fiancée.” It came out hard, angry, his delusion helping me find some form of gumption.
His chuckle gave me the chills. He sipped his drink again before pointing at the old couple’s billfold I still held in my hand, saying, “Go take care of that. I’ll still be here when you get back.”
It was a command, and a threat. He wasn’t going anywhere.
As much as I wanted to ignore his demand, I needed to get them their bill so they could finally leave. I couldn’t lose this job, which was very likely to happen if I let Jared make any form of a scene.
I left his table without another word, but I could feel his gaze on me as I ran their card, then took the billfold back to them. They wished me good luck before heading for the exit. I was in serious need of it. I considered asking Vicki if she could take his table, but I was no coward. Or maybe I was, but I couldn’t run, not this time. I had to know if he’d spoken to my parents, if they were also going to find me.
It took several deep breaths for me to gain some semblance of strength before I went back to his table. He was still watching me, still calculating my every move.
“Why are you here?” I demanded, sounding a bit more intimidating than I had at first.
“You already asked that one, babe.” The term of endearment made me sick to my stomach. It wasn’t original. It was what he called any female he thought he could have. With another chuckle, he lifted his drink, swirling the ice in it. “I still can’t understand what you saw in this shit town. Why you chose this to run to when you could have gone anywhere in the world.”
“What the fuck do you want, Jared?” I snapped, tired of his power game. He had none. He had no power over me. I was an adult. I could handle this situation.
When his furious eyes met mine, I had second thoughts about my resolve. I had a hard time finding my breath again. “That’s no way for a lady to talk, Chloe.” He tsked once more. I ground my teeth. His gaze rested on my stomach again, and I had the urge to cover it, to hide my babies from this horrible man. “Where’s the dad?”
“At home,” I lied, wishing Kai was in fact at my house. But this encounter probably would have only made him even angrier with me.
He made a bored face. “You always were a shit liar.” That couldn’t be true with how long I’d been lying to everyone, including myself. Which meant he somehow knew Kai wasn’t at my house. The thought of him watching me for any amount of time made my skin crawl, my stomach rolling to the point of me almost hurling on his table.
“Will
