Page 24 of Toy Boy

“We need to talk.” He gently grasps my forearm, and my instinct is to shake him off but that would involve spilling my drink, and he’s just not worth the waste of gin that would entail. “Who is he?”

“Let go of me, Scott.”

“Please, Megan. I just want to talk to you.”

Scott Warren, begging? Now, there’s a first! But I’m still not ready to give in to him, not yet. It’s a dangerous precedent to set with a man like him, when I don’t know how much he’s changed. If he’s changed at all. He says he has, but I stopped taking him at his word a long time ago. So the second he lets go of my arm I walk away, and I don’t look back. Things are on my terms now, and he’s just going to have to get used to that.

Xander

I knew she’d be here. How did I know that? Because I got talking to Hanna again. I stopped by the café just as Hanna was closing up, expecting to catch Megan, but she’d already left. To come here. Thanks, Hanna.

“You okay?”

Megan sets the drinks down on the table and sits down, but I’m sensing something’s wrong.

“I’m fine.”

She dismisses my concern with the flick of a wrist, glancing briefly over her shoulder before she picks up her drink and takes a long sip. Alright. None of my business, I guess.

“I just ran into someone I’d like to avoid, but it’s proving impossible.”

She looks at me, and she smiles, but it’s one that’s nowhere near reaching her eyes.

“Remember I said I was a good listener?” I smile back, and she drops her gaze; stares down into her drink.

“I’d rather not waste my breath on him.”

Him. Her ex-husband, I’m assuming. And I know she has one, because Hanna accidently mentioned it the other night, in The Shack. Is he here? Is that who she ran into? Anyway, I’m not going to push it. We barely know each other, so it’s understandable that she doesn’t want to talk about anything too personal.

She raises her gaze and tries another smile. “You don’t have to hang around here, you know. This is my local, so it’s not like I’ll be short of company.”

“Do youwantme to go?”

Her eyes linger on mine, and she’s still smiling. A slightly brighter smile this time, she really is an incredibly beautiful woman. “No.”

“Good. Because I don’t want to go. I’m quite happy here.”

She glances back over her shoulder again, just the quickest of glances, but she’s obviously looking to see if her ex is still around. But the way her shoulders visibly relax tells me I don’t think he is.

“Have you eaten?” she asks, crossing her legs, and I can’t help but notice the way her dress rides up over her thigh, just slightly, but enough to show a fair amount of lightly tanned skin.

“I grabbed a sandwich from your café on the way here.”

She raises an eyebrow, and takes another sip of gin. “You went to the café?”

“You said you did take-out.”

“I did. Was the sandwich good?”

“Salami and Emmental on an herb baguette. Hanna let me have it half price, she was closing up when I arrived. It was very nice.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

“Hanna said you’d be here.”

Not sure why I told her that, actually, but I kind of want her to know that I was looking for her. But she’s frowning now, and I’m not sure that’s a good sign.

“You were looking for me?”

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