The First Taste(59)

“We can go somewhere kid friendly. Move.” She waves me away. “I have to shut down my computer.”

I get out of Sadie’s chair. This isn’t what I had in mind. I do want time alone with Amelia—somewhere my daughter isn’t. “Why would you invite her?”

“She needs cheering up.” Sadie packs up her desk, glancing at me from under her lashes. “Her ex ambushed her last week, and she’s been in a weird mood ever since.”

“Her ex?” My body flushes with heat. The ex. Reggie, the cheater, the almost ex-husband—what the f*ck is he doing coming around? Here, I’d hoped she’d been thinking of me this week when she’d actually been dealing with him. “When was this?”

Sadie lugs her purse from the ground to the desk. “The night of the awards show.”

“Are you kidding? The one I was at?”

“Yes. Why do you care?”

“I don’t,” I say automatically, but my tone, my clenched fists, my racing thoughts prove otherwise. We were together that night, and she never mentioned him. Unless it happened afterward, which would’ve meant he was at the hotel. He was with her in what should’ve been my room. My bathtub. I look back at Amelia, but she isn’t in her office. I search the space around us. She’s gone. “I need to piss.”

“You know where the bathroom is.”

“I need to piss too,” Bell says.

“Bell,” Sadie scolds. “Don’t talk like that.”

“I’ll take you at the restaurant,” I say to her, walking away. “Stay there.”

I head through the office. The receptionist doesn’t even look up from his cell as he coughs and points toward a door by the elevator.

I check over my shoulder to make sure Bell didn’t follow me, then push through into the stairwell.

Amelia’s pacing the small space, a cigarette between her fingers. She looks up quickly. “What are you doing here?”

I ignore her question. “What happened last week? After the awards show?”

“Last week?” Her forehead wrinkles. “Do you really need me to tell you?”

“I mean with Reggie.”

She stops to stare at me. “Oh. Sadie told you?”

“Yeah. I don’t understand. He came to the hotel? Did you . . .?”

“God, no,” she says. “It was before I saw you. He showed up at my apartment when I was leaving for the event.”

I cross my arms, then change my mind and hold my hand out for the cigarette. She gives it to me. Her deep red lipstick has left a mark on the butt. “Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask.

She shrugs. “It’s not your problem.”

“It feels like my problem,” I say without thinking, but it’s the truth. “I’m sorry if that bothers you.”

She studies my face a few seconds, her eyebrows drawn. “What do you mean?”

I take a drag, thinking about my answer and deciding I don’t have one that’s as cut and dry as I wish it’d be. “I don’t like the idea of him coming around after the way he hurt you, regardless of whether you and I are together.” I sound like a chick, and I should stop myself, but I can’t. Amelia doesn’t deserve to be dicked around, especially not by him. “What did he want?”

Her expression eases a little. She takes the cigarette back from me and flicks off ash. “Just the same old shit. He’s sorry. He wants me back. He made a mistake.”

I frown. “Like, definitely?” I ask. “He wants you back?”

“I told him to get lost,” she says. “I might’ve been an idiot to fall for him once, but never again.”

Despite what she’s telling me, I’ve seen women all throughout my life choose men who weren’t good for them, my mother included. I’m not sure if my dad has ever cheated on her, but I wouldn’t put it past him. My mom wouldn’t even leave if he did. “You deserve better.”

She shrugs. “I know.”

As we look at each other, the air between us shifts. My irritation over Reggie dissipates as a more pressing need, and the reason I’m here, resurfaces.

I nod at the eyeglasses pushed up on her head. “You wear those often?” I ask.

“These?” She pulls them down onto her face. “Sometimes. For reading.”

“I like them.”

“How much do you like them?”

I glance over my shoulder, as if someone might hear us. “Come here.”

“No. I told you—we’re through.”

“Come . . . here.”

With a soft sigh, she inches toward me. When we’re close enough, she holds the cigarette to my mouth, and I take a drag.

“You were right,” I say. “After how you trusted me, I should’ve held my ground with Bell.”

She twists her lips, thinking. “You haven’t told me why you’re here.”

“I made those promises the other night thinking I’d get to keep them. Now it feels unfinished between us.” I slide her glasses off her face. “Truth is, I wanted to see you again. I’m here for you.”

I dig my fingers into her perfect bun, and she fights to keep her eyes open. “We had a deal,” she murmurs. “One night.”