Gone (Deadly Secrets #2)(25)

Raegan followed the brunette, weaving through tables toward the back of the restaurant, and didn’t miss the way the girl kept glancing back past Raegan, smiling at Alec as if the two were close friends.

“Here you go.” The brunette stopped at a table near a purple velvet drape and set out both menus. “Your regular table.”

“Thanks,” Alec said with a grin.

Irritated for reasons she didn’t want to admit right now, Raegan moved around the girl and pulled out her chair. On the other side of the table, Alec did the same, but the waitress’s hand on his arm stopped him. “Can I get you a beer? Or maybe some wine? We have a new pinot from Ribbon Ridge that’s fantastic. I sampled it last night.”

“Not for me.” Alec’s smile was warm and friendly, and he didn’t make any move to dislodge his arm from the girl’s grip. “Just coffee.”

“Decaf or regular?”

“Regular, please. Thanks, Molly.”

The brunette grinned and squeezed his arm. “You are so predictable.” She finally looked toward Raegan. “And you?”

“Coffee’s fine for me too. Black.”

The girl let go of Alec—finally—and turned without another word. Even though Raegan tried to stop the burst of jealousy, it bit her just the same.

Alec peeled off his leather jacket, slung it over the back of his chair, and sat. “Since when do you drink black coffee?”

“Since I became single.”

His hand stilled against the napkin.

And, dammit, knowing that had come out just as bitchy as she suddenly felt, she relaxed her jaw and told herself not to get worked up. They were no longer married. He could flirt with and date whomever he pleased.

Just please don’t let it be that skinny tart.

She cleared her throat and reached for her bag from the floor, working for nice. “There’s never any creamer or half-and-half in the break room at work. I started drinking black coffee there. Besides, I hate to go—”

“You hate to go to the store alone after work. I remember.”

He laid the cloth napkin over one thigh and rested his muscular forearms on the table. “Okay, show me what you’ve got.”

For a second, she studied his arms, the thick blond hair on his tanned skin, his wide palms and long fingers threaded together in front of him. Then her gaze lifted to the light-blue T-shirt that matched his eyes stretching over toned shoulders and chiseled pecs. And in a rush, she remembered how good it had felt to be surrounded by those arms only last night.

“Raegan?”

“What?”

“The papers?”

“Oh. Right.” Her cheeks heated, and she looked quickly away, searching through her bag for her research. God, she’d been staring. And he’d noticed. “Yeah. Here they are.”

She pulled out a stack of papers, more than he’d seen this morning, and set them on the table.

Unease passed over his features, and she remembered his admission out by her car about hitting rock bottom. About not being willing to go back there. She’d known he was talking about his drinking then, but now she couldn’t help but wonder if he’d meant something more.

She wanted to ask about it. Wanted to know what had happened in the time they’d been apart. Wanted to know why he’d turned to alcohol instead of to her. After they’d lost Emma, all she’d wanted was him. But he’d needed the bottle. She’d tried to tell herself it had nothing to do with her, that his addiction went back years, but she’d never truly believed it. In her heart, she’d always felt as if he’d made a choice, and it hadn’t been her.

He scanned the first page, then flipped to the second. “How’s your leg?”

Chitchat. He was making chitchat. She could do that too. She focused in on a young couple laughing over a bottle of wine. “Fine.”

“Did you have someone take a look at it?”

“No, it’s better today.” That wasn’t exactly a lie. It was still sore but definitely better. God, she remembered laughing like that with Alec. Remembered smiling. Remembered so many things. Did he remember any of them?

From the corner of her eye she watched as he frowned and flipped to the next page.

Silence stretched between them. An uncomfortable silence she hated. “How often do you come here?”

“Whenever I can,” he said without looking up. “They have the best coffee in town.”

Raegan frowned as the bubbly brunette with eyes only for Alec headed their way with two steaming mugs.

“Here you go.” The girl set Raegan’s cup on the edge of the table and placed Alec’s directly in front of him so she could lean way in and brush his arm with hers while drawing attention straight to her breasts, which were practically falling out of her low-cut, black, V-neck T-shirt. “Anything else I can get you, Alec?”

Raegan rolled her eyes. Across from her, Alec leaned back and smiled. “No, thanks, Molly. We’re good for now.”

“Okay.” The girl rested both hands on the table, leaning in a little too long, then finally winked and turned, never once looking Raegan’s way.

Jealousy came roaring back, a jealousy Raegan knew she shouldn’t be feeling, considering she was—or had been until this morning—dating someone else.