To Have and to Hold (The Wedding Belles #1)(62)

He blinked. “You realize it’s not typical to be so unabashed about these things, right?”

Brooke shrugged. “I never really understood the point in playing games. Seems like we’d all be a little happier and things would be a little less complicated if we all just said what we wanted, you know?”

“I do know.”

“And it’s what good businessmen and women do, right? They just put it out there. They know what they want. They go after it. Why can’t personal life be that way?”

“And what is it that you want?” he said. “Other than to get me naked again, obviously.”

“Obviously,” she with a cheeky smile.

He noticed she didn’t answer his question.

Brooke took a sip of her cocktail as she looked around. “Seriously, though, this place is great. Even if I am stuck picturing you gazing into Nadia’s eyes.”

“Do I look like the sort of man who gazes into someone’s eyes?” he asked. He didn’t want to talk about Nadia. Not here. Not now.

Brooke had a point though. The place did have its charm. It was a tiny, crowded little place on the corner of First and First, where the tables were too close together, the servers slightly frazzled, the food taking just a touch longer to come to the table than it should have. And yet nobody seemed to mind. Groups ranged from clusters of girlfriends chattering over wine to a business dinner in the corner to a rowdy celebration near the back to couples.

A lot of couples. Couples like . . . him and Brooke?

Hell, he had no idea what they were. Just thinking about it made his chest ache.

Apart from their rendezvous at his hotel last week, this was the first time when Seth didn’t have to pretend—to himself, or to Brooke—that they were there for any reason other than being in each other’s company.

He watched across the table as Brooke dug back into her steak, smiling at her enthusiasm before he tucked back into his own meal. They’d both opted for the steak frites. A caloric nightmare that was worth every single gram of fat.

“So what are you going to tell your sister about the success of her little matchmaking plan?” Brooke asked.

“I’m not,” he grumbled.

“Oh, come on. You’re not going to let her know that she was at least a little bit successful?”

“I’ve got you sitting across the dinner table from me giving me sexy eyes. I’d say that she was a lot successful,” he said, holding her gaze.

Brooke’s eyes narrowed playfully. “You’re giving me sexy eyes back, Mr. Tyler.”

“Because I want you,” he said bluntly, setting his knife and fork on the plate and leaning forward slightly so he could lower his voice. “As much as I’m enjoying this steak, as perfect as this wine is, nothing tastes as good as you.”

Her cheeks colored. “Seth.”

“Tell me you haven’t thought about it,” he said, reaching out and prying her hand away from where it fiddled with her cocktail glass. He stroked his thumb along her palm. “Tell me you haven’t thought about how we were together.”

“Mostly I thought about after,” she said a little glumly. “About how I took something pretty fantastic and turned it ugly.”

“That morning wasn’t all your fault,” he said. “I could have handled things . . . better.”

She smiled. “That’s true. For a man who runs a billion-dollar business, you certainly don’t have a way with words.”

“No. I don’t,” he admitted. “But I’m trying.”

You’re worth trying for.

Fuck. The woman was turning him into a drippy mess.

“Well, you’re doing quite well right now,” she teased softly. “Although if you keep looking at me like that, we’re never going to make it to dessert, and I’ve seen some chocolate decadence going around that looks really good.”

Seth groaned. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you not to tell a man that sex with him rates second to chocolate?”

Brooke opened her mouth to retort, but before she could (hopefully) contradict him, a shadow appeared over their table.

Seth glanced up, expecting to see their server.

“Nadia.” Seth’s hand jerked back so quickly from Brooke’s that he nearly knocked her water glass over in the process.

Holy mother f*cking hell. Had he somehow summoned her here?

It was his ex-girlfriend who reached out to calmly steady the teetering glass. “Hello, Seth,” she said calmly. “It’s nice to see you.”

He forced himself to meet the familiar brown eyes of his ex. She was as exotically beautiful as he remembered. Her mother was Korean, her father Russian, and their only daughter was stunning.

And she knew it. She’d always known it.

A libel attorney, she was as smart and ambitious as she was gorgeous, and he’d found the combination intoxicating.

Hell, he’d found it a lot more than that. He’d been ready to put a ring on it.

But seeing her now, looking down at him in exactly the same way she had a year ago, her smile slightly mocking, her eyes completely cold, Seth realized for the first time that perhaps he’d dodged a bullet when she’d said no.

Would he have been content with Nadia as his wife?

Probably.