Page 26 of 7 Nights of Sin

Chapter 9

Caro

By the time I was leaving work to go home and take a quick shower and change, I couldn't quite believe I'd actually said yes to having dinner with Kevin.

Aside from meetings in coffee shops and the one at the gym, we hadn't really spent much time together. Definitely not somewhere that could be considered a date.

All at once I was thrown into a memory of our very first date, a late-night pancake dinner at IHOP of all places, during finals week sophomore year.

It wasn't glamorous at all, but it had ended with him kissing me in his car, and me thinking about him every time I ate pancakes for the next two years, so clearly it had worked out alright.

He'd come a long way from IHOP, though, and I'd looked up the address he sent me to check the place out earlier.

It was one of those high-class Japanese fusion places that did sushi and noodle bowls and ramen for more than most people were willing to pay, but Kevin had insisted it was on him.

Of course the annoying thing was I'd wanted to go there for years but couldn't justify the price.

Either way, I deserved to be treated to some nice food for how much work I was putting in, so I brushed my hair out, leaving it down, falling in a thick, black curtain almost all the way down to my waist.

I put on a nice sweater dress that I hadn't had reason to wear in years. It was a dark green color that brought out my eyes, not low cut or tight enough to be considered scandalous or flirty at all, but it hugged my figure nicely, showing off the curves of my chest and hips.

Low heels completed the look, and I left my work-appropriate makeup in place before heading out. I just wanted to look nice for the restaurant. I wasn't trying to impress anyone.

Of course there was a wait at the door, but when I dropped Kevin's name, I was whisked inside immediately and taken to a private booth in the back where Kevin was already sitting.

And fuck, it was so unfair of him to look that good when he was just casually sitting in a restaurant drinking sake. His hair was artfully tousled, and he was dressed in a black jacket and jeans with a white shirt underneath the jacket, but he looked effortlessly good even in just that.

When the hostess brought me over to the table, Kevin's eyes traced over me, and I fought the urge to blush. It wasn't that serious. He looked at me all the time, and I definitely didn't care if he thought I looked nice or not.

I made myself comfortable in the booth, taking off my jacket and putting it to the side. "Drinking?" I asked, arching an eyebrow and glancing at his sake cup.

"It's sake," he said. "It's traditional. I'm not going to have much. Just because I'm reformed or whatever now doesn't mean I can't have a drink with dinner."

"I think that's exactly what it's supposed to mean," I pointed out, but I wasn't about to get into it with him.

“You look beautiful,” he said, changing the subject. “That’s a very good color on you.”

“Thank you,” I replied simply, going for the menu so I had something else to do other than look at him and the way he was half slouched in the booth.

Of course, it wasn't that easy. It never had been. He was the kind of person who managed to draw attention everywhere he went. He had a kind of presence about him that was impossible to ignore, no matter how much I wanted to.

Every few seconds I caught myself glancing up at him, and he would smile, not even paying attention to his own menu, just looking at me.

I felt that prickly anger under my skin, and I had to let out a deep breath.

It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that I was the only one still affected by what had happened between us. Clearly he had well and truly moved on, no longer holding any feelings for me whatsoever, but he wanted to play whatever game this was. Showing his 'appreciation' and forcing me to be around him.

The very unhelpful voice in the back of my head reminded me that I could have said no. I didn't have to come here and have dinner with him. And I didn't have to poke too hard to know why I'd agreed.

There was still...a confusing tangle of feelings in my chest about Kevin. Most of them were negative, but right at the heart of it all, I could remember why I'd loved him. Why I had been willing to fight to keep us together.

He was tenacious and bright. He was funny and clever. He was handsome and ambitious, and all of those things had been so attractive to me.

They still were.

But that ship had sailed, and sitting around remembering the past had never done anyone any good at all. Especially me. I needed to be looking forward.

This job was just a stepping stone. It would be over soon enough, and I would have other clients. I would use it to get what I needed, and then I'd be done with it. Simple as that.

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