My Favorite Souvenir(51)

And despite Felicity’s feelings on the matter, I was still torn about whether I could forgive Brady. If I ended up choosing to be with him, I’d likely never see Milo again. That was a hard pill to swallow.

I’d have to stand Milo up in New Orleans. The thought of that broke my heart. I couldn’t imagine Milo showing up and not finding me there. Obviously, if I were considering taking Brady back one second and feeling horrible about potentially hurting Milo the next, I was still very confused.

The bar Brady had chosen in downtown Manhattan was a small but trendy place. It was dark and crowded, but he had already texted me that he’d secured a spot at the back right side of the bar, so I knew where to look. I managed to find him sitting at a four-top table in the corner.

When he spotted me, he raised his glass. He looked really good tonight, dressed in a black, tailored suit. He must have been trying to impress a new client today.

“Hey!” I said, a bit out of breath.

“You made it.” Brady stood and leaned in to kiss my cheek. It was the most contact he’d aimed for since our first meeting after my return.

I had to admit, the feel of his lips on my skin sent a chill down my spine.

“How was your day?” he asked.

That was another thing. “New Brady” was more considerate. “Old Brady” would have immediately started going on about his day.

“The shoot in New Haven went well. I’ll have a ton of edits to do this weekend.”

“Good. What’s on tap next week?”

“I have a couple of private assignments and then a retake shoot at the high school in Darien.”

“Nice.”

“How was your day?” I asked.

“The usual brownnosing that comes with wooing a new client. But I’m pretty sure I nabbed them. I’ll probably hear next week.”

“Well, early congrats then. We should celebrate.”

“Definitely.” He flagged down a waitress. “I hope you don’t mind, I told Dunc to meet us here. He just got into town tonight.”

Duncan was Brady’s best friend from college back in Vail. He was supposed to be the best man at our wedding. That was going to be my first time meeting him, but of course the wedding never happened. I’d heard about him for years, but according to Brady, he’d been through a tough period and had apparently pulled back from everyone. I tried to fight the bitterness creeping in. The mere thought of Duncan reminded me of the canceled wedding and Brady’s abandonment. I already had a negative association with the poor guy and hadn’t even laid eyes on him.

Forcing a smile, I said, “It’ll be nice to finally meet him.”

“Yeah. He’s coming here straight from the airport, but who knows what kind of traffic he’ll hit at this hour.”

“Oh, that’s true.”

The waitress finally came around to take my order. I opted for a Cosmo. Brady also ordered a medley of olives, cheese, and crackers.

“If you’re hungry, once Duncan gets here, we can get out of this place and find a proper dinner.”

“No, that’s not necessary. This place is great. I can nosh on appetizer kind of stuff all night.”

He placed his hand on my back. “Okay. Just let me know if you get more of an appetite.”

The contact of his hand caused me to shift in my seat.

His eyes lingered on mine, to the point that it actually made me blush. “You look fucking amazing tonight, Hazel.”

“Thank you.”

“I want to kiss you so badly, but I don’t know how you’d feel if I did.” He groaned. “I wanna do a lot more than just kiss you, actually.”

I couldn’t remember the last time Brady had said something like that—expressed a need for me in such a way. It was definitely a turn-on to be wanted. I knew he wasn’t lying; I could tell from the look in his eyes. It was interesting how much more attractive I seemed to be now that I was somewhat unavailable.

I decided to continue on the path I knew to be better for me.

“I think it’s best if you don’t…kiss me.”

He looked a little defeated. “I figured.” Then he smiled. “But I understand. I’ll be patient.”

The waitress brought the cheese and olive plate, and I began snacking while enjoying my drink, which was thankfully pretty strong.

My eyes wandered over to the door. And that’s when my heart dropped.

I blinked.

Holy shit. I must be hallucinating.

I blinked some more.

There was a man at the door who looked just like…Milo.

My heart raced with every second that passed, and it felt like everything I’d just eaten was coming back up. I then remembered Milo had had plans to visit a friend in New York a few days after he left Atlanta. He’d never actually said how long he was staying.

Could it be him?

With eight million people in New York, there was no way we both happened to be in this same tiny bar at the same time. It just couldn’t be. What were the odds?

I squinted.

Panic set in.

Oh my God.

The longer I looked over there, the more I was sure. It was him.

It was Milo.

Milo was in this bar!

Holy shit.

Holy shit.

Holy shit.

I froze.