“Hello?”
“Good morning,” Simon replied. “I’m going for coffee at the Filigree Café. Want to meet me there? I’ll spring for the bagels.”
The Filigree served some of the best coffee and homemade baked goods in Lower Manhattan. She and Simon met there on weekend mornings when neither of them had other plans. That was often the case for Chloe. Not so much lately for Simon, but then his dating status had changed.
Once again, she ignored jubilation, as well as the way her mouth watered at the mere thought of a toasted onion bagel with herbed cream cheese.
“Sorry. No bagels for me. I’m on a diet,” she informed him.
“Since when?”
“Since when not?” she replied. “I’m always on a diet.” Which, sadly enough, was all too true.
A wise man, Simon didn’t point out that this had never stopped her from joining him for a bagel in the past. Instead, he asked, “Is this about the reunion?”
“No.”
They both knew she was lying.
“Come on, Chloe. Join me. What’s the fun in eating alone?”
“Simon …”
“We’ll go for a walk afterward,” he promised. “A long, brisk one. It’s a great morning for it. No humidity and the temperatures aren’t supposed to reach into the eighties until this afternoon.”
She pulled at her curly hair, and relented. “Okay. But I’m not having a bagel.”
“Agreed. And I won’t let you have so much as a bite of mine.”
“You’re humoring me,” she accused.
“I’m dead serious. Meet you there in half an hour?”
The old Chloe would have said yes. The brand-new and improved Chloe knew that half an hour would barely give her enough time to brush her teeth and hair and throw on whatever clean clothes she could find hiding amid the heaps of laundry on her bedroom floor.
“Make it an hour. I’m not even dressed or anything.”
“An hour?” Simon sounded surprised and no wonder given their long history as friends. “You really need an hour to get dressed?”
“I’m turning over a new leaf. I want to actually wear makeup and look presentable when I appear in public. Even if it’s just with you,” she replied drily.
“Okay, an hour.” Rather than sounding irritated, he almost sounded intrigued. “I’ll get our usual corner table. See you then.”
Simon was on his third cup of coffee when Chloe finally arrived at the cafe. It was hard to be angry with her given the way she looked. She didn’t primp often, but when she did … Wow! He sucked in a breath and reached for his cup, failing in his determination not to admire the way her jeans hugged her hips or the way the vee of her shirt offered the slightest hint of cleavage.
She thought she needed to lose weight. When she dressed like this, he thought he’d lose his mind.
She was wearing makeup, not a lot, but enough to enhance her long lashes and bring out the cool green in her eyes. And her hair. No quick and easy ponytail intended to disguise its lovely and natural waves. No. She’d left it down in a riot of curls that framed her face and fell past her shoulders.
It was wrong of him, Simon knew, but he almost wished she’d shown up in baggy sweats and a T-shirt, no makeup and that dreadful, all-purpose ponytail. Then, at least, he wouldn’t feel so damned interested and, well, needy.
He chanced a glance around and regretted it. Sure enough, several of the other male patrons were checking her out. He didn’t like their interested expressions. Not one damn bit. Before he could stop himself, he pushed to his feet. The legs of his chair scraped noisily over the tiled floor. They seemed to scream, “Back off! She’s mine.”
The attention was on him now. All of the attention, including Chloe’s. Her face lit up when she spied him and a pair of full lips pulled into a smile that was sexy without trying to be. How was it possible, he wondered for the millionth time, that a woman as naturally lovely as she was had self-esteem issues?
He shot a smug look at each of the guys who’d been ogling her, and took his time kissing her cheek when she reached the table.
“Sorry I’m late,” she said as she slid onto the chair opposite his.
Simon shrugged. “It was worth the wait. Look at you. The hair, the makeup, the cleav … clean clothes,” he amended hastily, forcing his gaze back up to her face.
She grinned. “So, you like?”
“Of course I do. So do half the guys in here, judging from the way they were watching you.”
“Yeah?” Her face brightened and she glanced around. “Which ones?”
He unclenched his teeth and forced out a laugh. “Forget it. I’m not going to stroke your ego any more than I already have.”
“Spoilsport,” she replied.
Her expression said she didn’t believe him. He considered relenting. He should throw her a bone—or a whole roomful of them. But their waitress arrived then. She was a heavyset woman named Helga with a thick accent of Eastern European origin. The woman had been waiting on them for half a decade. Even so, she eyed Chloe curiously before asking, “Your usual today?”
Chloe’s usual was a double mocha latte and toasted onion bagel slathered with enough melted butter and cream cheese that it should have come with an American Heart Association warning.
“Not today. I’ll have coffee, black. Make it decaf.”
“And to eat?”
“Nothing.”
Helga’s bushy eyebrows shot up at that.
“You no want something to eat?”
“No. Nothing.”
“You feel okay?”
“Fine. I’m on a diet,” she confessed.
“Chloe’s always on a diet,” Simon inserted.
Helga made a rude sound. “Girls nowadays, they all want to be so skinny. Too skinny, I think. A stiff breeze, they blow over.” She motioned with her notepad, before turning to Simon. “So, you think she need to lose weight?”
“No. Not a pound.” She was perfect in his book. Always had been.
“See.” Helga nodded vigorously. To Chloe, she said, “I bring you onion bagel just how you like.”
Chloe’s expression turned panicked, but before she could refuse, Simon said casually, “You don’t have to eat all of it. Or any of it, Chloe. Consider it a test of your willpower.”
“Fine.” She straightened in her seat and squared her shoulders, making the display of her cleavage even harder for Simon to ignore. It was like a magnet, drawing his gaze.
“What will you have?” Helga asked.
Because he knew what he really wanted was off-limits, he wrapped both hands around his cup of coffee and forced his gaze to the stocky waitress. “Two slices of whole wheat toast and a fruit cup.”
Helga pursed her lips in distaste as she jotted down his order. “Fruit cup,” she muttered as she walked away. “Is whole world on diet?”
“I think we’ve ruined her day,” Chloe said.
“We’ll leave a big tip,” Simon replied.
They always did, regardless of the amount they spent. The way Simon saw it, she deserved the tip. He and Chloe took up one of Helga’s prime tables