“Do you?” Aidan asks.
“I’m sorry I haven’t been by your office yet,” Ronan says, keeping his eyes on me, as if Aidan didn’t speak. “I had meetings with my lawyers all day.”
“There’s no need to apologize,” I say. “I wasn’t expecting you.”
“No?” He grabs a chair, slides it up to our table, and sits down. “I certainly didn’t intend to go this long without saying hello. We have a lot to catch up on.”
“Which I’m sure we can do another time,” I say.
“So how have you been?” Ronan asks. “It’s been what, five years?”
“Only five?” I ask. “It seems like it’s been much longer.”
One corner of his mouth curls up. “I remember it like it was yesterday.”
My heart skips a beat, and it’s all I can do to keep my breath from catching. His gray eyes hold onto mine.
The waitress comes back to our table. “Do you need a menu?” she asks Ronan.
“He’s not staying,” I say.
Ronan’s eyes move from me to the waitress, like he’s trying to decide his next move. “Of course not.” He stands. “Pardon the interruption. I’ll see you in the office, Selene.”
The waitress looks at me expectantly as Ronan walks away. I pick up my menu and order one of the first things I see. I hate that I’m so flustered. She takes Aidan’s order, and the pause gives me a second to collect myself.
“I am so sorry about that,” I say after the waitress leaves. “That was so rude of him.”
“It’s all right,” Aidan says. “Did he recently join your company? That’s odd that they’d be hiring in the midst of a sale.”
“No, he’s the one who bought us out,” I say.
Aidan’s eyebrows lift. “And he’s someone you know?”
In some ways, not at all. In other ways, intimately. “We worked together about five years ago. I didn’t know him very well.”
“He seemed to think he knew you quite well,” Aidan says.
Aidan isn’t stupid. I know he could see what was in Ronan’s eyes when he looked at me. But my past isn’t any of Aidan’s business, and I have no desire to share what happened between Ronan and me.
“I think he’s just like that,” I say with a shrug. “That’s why I steered clear of him when we used to work together.”
Aidan seems to accept my explanation. I make it through dinner, although I’m very much ready for this date to be over. I feel like I need to get my head on straight, and I can’t do it while I’m trying to make conversation with Aidan.
I decline dessert and we go back to Aidan’s car. He gets in the driver’s seat and hesitates. He glances at me and I can tell exactly what he’s thinking.
It’s finally happening. He’s going to make a move.
Damn, why did it have to be tonight? Is this what I want? Is Aidan what I want? Ronan left me so flustered, and I’m still trying to get my thoughts in order.
Memories keep flashing through my mind. The sound of Ronan’s voice was enough to send me back in time, to that crazy night we spent together. It was electric. As hard as I’ve tried to forget, it’s stayed with me, and seeing him again is leaving me off balance.
“So, Selene,” Aidan says. “I was thinking.”
I raise my eyebrows and try to keep my face relaxed.
“Instead of going out, maybe Friday we can do a night in,” he says. “I’d love to cook you dinner at my place.”
I let out the breath I didn’t realize I was holding. Thank God he doesn’t mean tonight. I can agree to this, can’t I? Even dinner at his place won’t necessarily mean he expects me to sleep with him. It makes it more likely, but he’s clearly not the type to lay on the pressure. I’ll be able to make a decision then.
“That sounds nice,” I say with a smile.
“Great,” he says. “And hey, what about tonight? Are you up for a drink?”
“You know, I have to be at work early tomorrow,” I say. “We have so much going on, I feel like I should get home and get a good night sleep.”
Aidan smiles at me. It’s a pleasant smile. He pulls out of the parking spot and flips on the radio, tuning it to another station.
I hate this station.
I look out the window as we drive through the city, heading toward my place. I need to figure out whether I want to continue with this relationship, and I need to do it fast. I don’t want to take things to the next level with him if I’m still feeling so uncertain.
The trouble is, it’s so disappointing. I really thought I was doing things right this time. Aidan is all the things I told myself I needed: responsible, sweet, mature.
But his taste in music is genuinely awful.
No. He’s a good guy, and I despise the thought that I’m one of those women who gives truth to the phrase nice guys finish last.
Then again, the nice guy thing is proving to be pretty dull.
Am I searching for reasons to walk away? Am I craving the rush of a hot hookup so much that the slow build of a real relationship just doesn’t do it for me?