Edward lets out a derisive chuckle. “Rush-hour traffic on a Saturday? What a load of rubbish. And I’m supposed to feel better that you’ll be on your way as soon as you’ve finished your dinner date with my ex-girlfriend?”
“Dinner date? Are you mad? The woman can hardly stand being around—” I cut myself off, realizing the stupid admission I was about to make.
“Tell me the truth, Ethan? Are you shagging Alice?”
I clench my jaw to keep my mouth shut before I say anything else stupid. “No,” I reply flatly. “We are here strictly for business purposes. Nothing more. And may I remind you that it was I who saved your arse four months ago when your restaurant deal almost fell through.”
He laughs again. “And I’ll remind you that I’m the one who recommended you hire Alice and use her father’s VC firm. I do not, however, recall recommending you sleep with her. Though, I’m certain Cristian would be quite interested in hearing about your recent exploits with his daughter.”
I glance back at the restaurant entrance, half expecting to find Alice standing there, somehow listening to our conversation.
I want to ask Edward why he cares so blooming much about whether I sleep with Alice, especially when he was so determined on ruining her career. But I can’t give Edward the wrong impression. I wouldn’t put it past him to run straight to Cristian with his paranoid suspicions should I confirm them in any way.
“For the last time, I’m not sleeping with Alice,” I say, realizing I still have time to turn this statement into the truth, but knowing full well I will do no such thing.
I have no intention of letting Edward dictate my sex life anymore than I would trust him running one of my restaurants.
After a brief pause, he finally responds, his tone only mildly appeased. “Trust me, mate. I’m only saving you the grief,” he says. “Don’t let her do to you what she did to me.”
I grit my teeth to stop myself from telling him to sod off and save his phony warnings for someone who’s fooled by this innocent facade. “Goodbye,” I say, ending the call before I speak my mind and get myself into even more trouble.
I stare at the phone in my hand for a moment, wondering if that really happened. Did Edward actually threaten to tell Cristian I’m sleeping with Alice if I don’t play by his rules? Edward’s first demand is that I don’t spend the night with his ex-girlfriend, but what will his next demand be?
I’m beginning to see why Alice walked out on him.
As I enter the restaurant, I stop a few tables away from ours to admire Alice as she takes the glass of wine a server has brought to the table. She drains the entire thing in a few gulps, and hands the empty glass back to the server. Holding up one finger, she seems to ask for another as the server walks away looking somewhat shocked by her brazenness.
As Alice’s eyes follow the server, she spots me a few tables away, and the corners of her lips turn upward. Then, she seems to remember we were arguing before I left the table, and her smile disappears.
I don’t care what kind of promises I made to Edward. I’m going to figure out a way to put that gorgeous grin back on her face.
We have all night, remember?
Oh, Alice, how I wish I could forget.
Chapter 9
ALICE
I don’t bother asking Ethan about his phone call. Not because he obviously wasn’t speaking to Tino. Mostly, I don’t ask him about it because I’m afraid he’ll say, “That was my girlfriend.” Or whatever he may call her: my woman, my lady, my girl, my love.
I shudder at the thought of him saying any of those phrases.
I can’t deny my physical attraction to him, but it’s strictly that: physical. The number of similarities between Ethan and Edward’s personalities are enough to make me wonder whether coming back to work at Forked this morning was a good idea.
First, there’s the need to have things done now.
Yes, I was the one who told Hank we could pick up the proofing cabinet today, but I did that to give Ethan some time to decide what he wanted to do, not because I was afraid someone else might snatch it up. The chances of that happening can’t be more than fifty-fifty. We probably could have waited until tomorrow morning to pick up the cabinet. If we’d done that, I may not have needed to come with Ethan.
But he insisted we had to pick up the cabinet today.
And now that Hank isn’t in the office, I have no way to contact him to ask if the cabinet is still there. Ethan and I may be staying the night in Poughkeepsie—in the same bed!—for no reason at all. Well, the only reason is to appease Ethan’s need to solve the proofing cabinet problem now.
Unless, of course, Ethan has another reason for insisting we stay the night. A reason he’s not sharing with me.
Nevertheless, his impatience reminds me way too much of the way Edward always needed me to help in the kitchen now. If I had to take a five-minute breather during a particularly hectic dinner rush, we would inevitably end up in a blowout argument after closing. In Edward’s opinion, if I wasn’t there for him precisely when he needed me, I might as well not be there at all.
Then, there’s the secretiveness.
For months, Edward kept the plans for his recent restaurant opening from me. And he never mentioned the brother he was basically estranged from was also his twin. But the most disturbing similarity between them has to be how they both seem reluctant to talk about each other.
I assumed,
