“I’m working as a mediator for a case I’ve been assigned.” She glanced down at the wine bottle in the bag he was carrying in his hand, and immediately knew what it meant. He was on his way to make a booty call. Whenever he’d done so with her, he’d always showed up with a bottle of wine. She remembered that oh, so well.
“How have you been?” she heard herself asking, glancing back up at him while fighting off anger at the thought he had probably reverted back to his old ways fairly easily, when she’d found it difficult to get back to hers. She hadn’t slept with another man since him. The thought of doing so had turned her body off for some reason.
“I’ve been doing fine,” he replied. “What about you?”
“Great. Just busy.”
“Same here. How long will you be in New York?” he asked.
She wondered why he wanted to know. Did he not think this city was big enough for the both of them? That thought annoyed her. In fact, if she were to be honest with herself, she would admit to being annoyed with the whole split, although it had been her idea. A part of her hadn’t expected him to agree to it so easily. When he’d left that night, not once had he looked back. She knew that for certain because she had watched him from her bedroom window until he’d gotten into his car and driven off.
According to her best friend, Natalie, who was married to Xavier’s good friend Donovan, Xavier hadn’t asked about her once. He could have, even if for no other reason than to inquire how she was doing. For all he’d known, she could have fallen off the face of the planet.
“I’m scheduled to fly out on Friday, but if the parties involved in the case don’t reach a resolution by then, I’ll be returning to New York sometime next week. At least I hope to return, but that will depend on the weather. A snowstorm is supposed to be headed this way on Sunday,” she said.
“So I heard, but I’ll be here for another week, so if it does come, I’ll be here with it.”
Farrah nodded. “Well, I guess I’d better let you go. I wouldn’t want you late for your date.”
Too late she wished she could bite off her tongue. Had she just sounded like a jealous ex? She hoped not because it shouldn’t matter one way or the other if he was on his way to see another woman.
“Who said I had a date?”
He asked the question in a deep, husky voice, which stirred something within her. She found the tone just as mesmerizing as his scent, which was all male. His signature cologne certainly knew how to make a woman hot and bothered. And then there was the way he was looking at her, with those gorgeous dark eyes of his, as if he knew he was making her panties wet.
She shrugged as she glanced back down at the wine bottle in the bag he was holding. “I just assumed you had one.”
“I will if you’ll have dinner with me.”
She lifted a brow. “Dinner?”
“Yes. There are several restaurants around here. We can get caught up. I’d like to know how you’ve been doing since the last time I saw you.”
He really didn’t want to know, Farrah thought. He didn’t need to know. It was best if they didn’t go there. But, heaven help her, she would like to know what he’d been doing since the last time she saw him. “You sure you want to do that?”
“Why not? I see no reason why we shouldn’t. I’d like to think, although we’re no longer lovers, we’re still friends.”
Friends? Could two people go from being lovers to friends? After all, they’d shared a bed off and on for close to a year, longer than some people remained married.
She met his gaze, and the eyes looking deep into hers were robbing her of the ability to think straight. Instead she was overcome with memories of a satisfied woman, stretched out naked on a bed. And that woman was her. At least it had been her when they’d been together.
“So, since we’re here in New York together, the least we can do is share dinner,” he added in that resonant voice that could make her want to toss her panties to the wind any time and any place.
But then she knew that wasn’t all he could make her toss to the wind. Her ability to resist his potent male charm topped the list. He already had the wine, so all he needed was a willing woman to share his bed … or for him to share hers.
Farrah drew in a deep breath as she thought about his invitation. Didn’t she turn down Frank’s invitation to dinner less than an hour ago? Why shouldn’t she turn down this one as well? She really should, but for some reason, she couldn’t fix her mouth to do that.
Going to dinner with him wouldn’t be a big deal unless she made it one. And she wouldn’t. She could handle it. And there was no reason why she couldn’t handle him. He was just a man who’d been a past lover. And it was only dinner, and it didn’t necessarily mean she would do anything foolish like sleep with him again. No way. No how.
“I’d love to join you for dinner, Xavier, but I’d like to go back to the hotel and change first.”
“All right. What’s the name of your hotel? I’ll swing by and pick you up later. Let’s say within the hour.”
“I’m staying at the Waldorf Astoria.”
She tried to ignore the flutter in her stomach when he smiled and said, “It’s right up the street. Why don’t I walk you there now and hang in the lobby while you change.”
Farrah shook her head. “I can’t ask you to do that. I’m sure you—”
“I don’t mind waiting. I have some work I need to look over anyway,” he said, lifting up his briefcase. “That would be easier than for me to go all the way to my home on Long Island and then come back,” he added.
She knew in addition to the home he owned in Charlotte, he also had residences here in New York, Los Angeles and Florida. “You sure?” she asked.
“Positive.”
“Okay, then, give me a minute to buy my wine.”
“Sure.”
At least he hadn’t said anything about her sharing his, which meant after dinner there was still that possibility he would make one of his infamous booty calls to some woman. Why did she care? And why did the thought irk her?
She figured he would wait to the side for her to make her purchase. She hadn’t counted on him following her when she walked up to the counter. And when he stood directly behind her, she could actually feel heat emanating from his body to hers. She was sure she’d felt it … or was she just imagining things?
She shook off the thought. Just the very idea that she had run into him—in New York of all places—was enough to torment her in one way and make her giddy in another. It wouldn’t be so bad if she hadn’t thought of him often. She had missed him, and although she would never admit such a thing to him, she would and could admit it to herself.
After making her purchase, she turned around to Xavier and smiled. “Thanks for waiting.”
“No problem.”
As they left the wine shop to head over to her hotel, she silently kept reminding herself that her days of lusting after Xavier had ended six months ago. Still, every time she felt his gaze on her she couldn’t help but wonder if accepting his invitation to dinner had been a smart move after all.
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