The Fall (6 page)

“Sorry, babe,” he said, eyeing me as he circled his pot with a spoon, carefully folding cheese into his sauce.

“I’ll let you make it up to me with chocolate mousse,” I said in a bratty tone, taking in more wine with a moan.

“Already chilling in the fridge,” he said, smiling at me. I watched him cook a late meal for the two of us and admired his gorgeous body and the way he glided across the kitchen with expert skill. I should want to move in with him. Josh had been nothing but good to me in our time together. We laughed a lot, had good sex. We were exactly what a budding couple should be. I slumped in my chair, thinking of the wind that had come and knocked the breath out of me today making Josh seem like...less.

“I’m having dinner with an old college friend tomorrow,” I said plainly.

“Damn, it’s my mother’s birthday and I was just about to ask you if you wanted to join us for dinner,” he said, pulling some fresh pasta dripping with sauce out of the pot with his thumb and pointer then bringing it toward me to taste. I opened wide as he curled the noodle into my mouth and I moaned at the taste. He leaned in, finishing the taste test with a long slow kiss on my lips.

“It’s so good,” I said, smiling a thank you.

“Yes, it is,” he said, not referring to the pasta. I shook my head with a smile as he continued to cook another amazing meal for the two of us.

Josh.

Dean turned up the next night precisely at eight and was chatting with a nurse on my service as I sauntered up in my sexiest dress.

“Still up to the same tricks I see, old dog?” I poked.

He laughed at my comment then stopped smiling as he took in my appearance. His eyes quickly diverted to the black dress and super high stiletto heels I had purchased that morning before my shift. I was hoping he couldn’t see the tiny cushions under my eyes. Other than a rough day and little sleep, I was all
too
happy to see him. He gave me a thorough once over and waved goodbye to the attentive blonde who was now pouting that I had all of his attention. I gave her a wink that seemed to anger her and fully revealed a toothy grin as we walked away. His appearance screamed sex. And his sex...well, I still hadn’t met his match. I shivered a little as I recalled the year we had spent tangled in each other.

He guided me with a hand on the small of my back toward his Jaguar and I took notice that he was typically impeccably dressed in a three-piece. He had always been well dressed. While I found it odd at first, it did little to keep me away. To me it was way more alluring than the jean wearing, sandal sporting guys I was used to dating. I felt a pang of guilt as I thought of Josh at home, thinking that I was probably with an old girlfriend.

He’s engaged and you are committed to Josh. This is dinner. Oh and Dean’s a lying bastard.

He opened the car door for me. “Let’s go somewhere quiet where we can talk.”

“Sounds good,” I replied, completely uncomfortable in my own skin with thoughts of Josh and the guilt I felt.

I shouldn’t have worn this dress.

“You look beautiful, Dallas,” Dean said, making himself comfortable to drive.

“Thanks, so do you. Where is your fiancée tonight?” I asked in an attempt to feel a little better about being out with another man.

“Not here,” he answered quickly. He started the car and turned to me, a smile playing on his lips. “I dug this out of thin air and thought you might like it.”

I heard the music start to play and laughed out loud. It was Dean Martin’s greatest hits. I had given it to him as a birthday present in college. He forced me to listen to it every time we were together.

“
Ain’t that a kick in the head
,” I sang along as he pulled up to Chantilly and I laughed at his choice of restaurants. We were definitely going old school tonight. It was the location of the first date of my parents and was a Dallas landmark, having been open for over forty-five years. We walked inside and I quickly surveyed to see if my parents table was available. I requested it on sight immediately and reveled in the fact that it was ours. My parents had taken Rose and me here a few times when we were kids when they were unable to find a sitter on special anniversaries. We were usually grounded by the time we left and they would swear never to take us again.

“My parents had their first date right here at this table,” I remarked as we took our seats.

“Really?” he asked with a smile. “How are they?” The hostess seating us completely covered Dean in her stare. It was so blatant that I almost felt uncomfortable for him. He simply gave her a wink as he turned his attention to me.

“Terrific. We should have dinner with them soon. They always loved you. You can bring your fiancée,” I added, reminding myself that this was a dinner date between old friends. But we weren’t friends. We hadn’t spoken in years. Our relationship ended in heartbreak. Morbid curiosity is what made me decide to dine with Dean tonight.

I saw him visibly cringe at the mention of his fiancée then recover. “Sounds good to me. How is Rose?”

“She’s perfect. She is on her last semester of school and is kicking ass. She is going for a surgical fellowship. I am so proud of her.”

“And you are still going to open your own practice?” he asked as he glanced at the drink menu.

“Yep, everything is falling into place. Three years and it will be a reality,” I said excitedly as we were greeted by our waitress.

“That’s incredible, really. You are doing it.”

“Yeah, we are,” I boasted, the ghosts of our pasts lingering in the air along with a deafening silence that kept us mute. When it became uncomfortable, I could feel his next question coming.

“So are you dating?” His beautiful, ice blue eyes drifted from his menu to meet mine, rendering me momentarily speechless. I nodded in reply.

“Anyone I know?” His question was intrusive and he recognized it as well as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“Josh is a chef. One of Dallas’s best,” I announced proudly. “We’ve been dating a year. You’d like him.”

“Nice, well at least he’s not a bum,” he said with a shrug. I gave him an odd look and tilted my head at his remark. Surely, after seven years and a fiancée later this man was not jealous. “You expected me to be with a bum, Dean?”

“Dallas, I never expect anything from you. You are too unpredictable,” he remarked, looking for our waitress and gesturing for her.

“I was never unpredictable, and I was nineteen,” I said, taking a long sip of wine.

He chuckled as he watched me. “Then you were twenty. Don’t forget that I
know
you. I bet you are still an unbelievably cocky pain in the ass, Dallas Whitaker.”

“You
knew
me,” I retorted, finding that same lack of air that had tortured me a day earlier. Dean paused, and for a brief moment, I saw something in his eyes before it vanished.

“So OB, that’s an interesting field,” I added, trying to change the subject. Though we had history, I was trying my best not to reminisce. We had parted under the worst of circumstances and I definitely didn’t want to rehash that tonight. “Do you enjoy it?”

“Never a dull moment,” he said, catching my eyes briefly.

“Hmmm, well you always were passionate about the needs of women,” I paused with a smirk to watch him stiffen in his seat. “So tell me about your fiancée. What’s her name?”

“She is a cocky pain in the ass.” He chuckled as he gave the waitress our drink order. It thrilled me that he remembered and ordered my favorite wine.

“So she is just your type. What’s her name?”

“Helena,” he said quickly, re-situating the napkin on his lap. It was clear he didn’t want to discuss her.

Tough shit.

“Is she a doctor, too?”

“Yes, she is,” he answered curtly. I watched him shift his gaze to the window next to us as he stared at the people on the street passing by.

“Did you meet her at Columbia?” I questioned, taking another sip of wine.

“Dallas, what’s with the questions?”

“Just curious,” I said, sinking in my seat, an old pain in my chest moving to the surface. “So did you?”

“Yes, my first year.” My eyes snapped to his as I swallowed the lump in my throat. He didn’t miss my calculation.

“I’m just trying to get to know you again. I’m also curious about the woman who tamed the infamous Dean Martin. Definitely a first.”

“She wasn’t the first,” he whispered, almost inaudibly.

I ignored his remark with more sarcasm. “Was she aware the merchandise had been previously used by half of Texas and the eastern seaboard?”

“I wasn’t that bad,” he said, crossing his arms with a smirk.

I just gave him my best ‘you’re full of shit’ by eye.

I took a sip of my wine, finishing my glass, and pointed to my order on the menu, catching him eyeing me through his tumbler of scotch.

“You’re a beautiful woman, Dallas.”

I choked slightly on my mouth full of fermented grape and thanked him as I recovered.

“You are...so damn beautiful,” he said more to himself than me. I stared at him, unable to keep my chest from rising and falling rapidly. My thighs clenched with the way he looked at me, like he wanted to take me right there. I couldn’t stop staring back. Everything I had dreamt about for the last seven years was sitting across from me at the table, looking at me as if he was thirsty and I was the very last drink of water.

You hate him.

“Stop it,” I said dismissively as our plates were put in front of us. I finished my steak at neck breaking speed and watched him scoff at my blatant disregard for the proper fork and the art of chewing.

“I remember Rose eating like this, but you?”

“Yeah, yeah.” I ignored him as I devoured the rest of my plate and ordered a huge piece of seductive chocolate cake for dessert. We made small talk, mostly leading to dead ends. I fumbled with a few words under his gaze as I caught it throughout the meal. Dean’s eyes were a clear blue. Much like Josh’s, they had an effect on me. Yet Dean’s did things far worse to me. After a few years apart from Dean, I was almost sure I had romanticized so much about our past; staring at him now across the table, I knew I had not imagined a thing. And he was no longer living in a foreign land I could never reach. He was within my grasp and looking at me like he used to. I was sure I was doing the same.

He was engaged, and, oh, Dallas, he tore your fucking heart out.

“Dean, this was wonderful, thank you. You can drop me off at my car.”

“Ready for bed?” His gaze was hot on mine as he took in my neck and bare shoulders.

“Still a smooth talker.” I winked. “I’m sure the three of us would be a little uncomfortable in your bed. You know, you, me, Helena—” I held my tongue as his stare grew a little colder.

His expression didn’t waver and I felt myself sinking in my seat.

“I’d have to have you all to myself,” he said, his eyes lingering on my lips as I spoke.

“You
have
had me all to yourself,” I said as the heat in my lower half rose to an immeasurable temperature.

Oh God, this was a mistake, a huge mistake.

Things had gone from casual to dangerous again in a matter of seconds. I would never get used to this. To the way he made me feel. I drank in his sharp features, his chiseled chin, and perfect full lips. His paralyzing eyes were accented by dark black lashes and his smooth black hair made them stand out.

Was he always this gorgeous? Yes, God, yes he was.

I remembered the feel of his lips on mine, his tongue, and the weight of him as he took me—

“And then you dumped me,” he said, dragging the dead horse to the table. He had said it in a way where it could be construed as a joke, but I knew better.

Shit.

“I think your memory may be a little foggy. That really isn’t how it happened. Besides, you had it coming,” I said, trying to tread lightly. “You put me through hell in high school and made sure no one would date me.”

“That was just so Jon Reiner couldn’t pop your cherry.” I laughed at his absurd statement and he joined in.

I leaned in to whisper, “How could you get my cherry if you never dated it in high school?”