Page 28 of Promise Me Ever After
“You’ve got a lot going on.” I shot her a sideways glance. “Not much time for anything else.”
“Oh, I’m sure I could make time if I needed to.”
Her gaze caught with mine that little bit too long, then drifted and took its time in dragging over me. It wouldn’t take much for me to step across the kitchen and kiss those luscious lips. I put the knife down, ready to make the move.
The timer on the oven went off, breaking the moment.
Sometimes, I fucking hated cooking.
11
Georgie
“Areyou trying to get me drunk?” I giggled as I drained the last of the ruby port from my glass. The tumbler I’d been using pretty much all evening had seen champagne, Albarino — a wine I hadn’t expected to like — Pinot Noir and finally the port. The delicious tastes swam around in my mouth and I leaned back in my chair, holding my stomach. Thank God I’d worn a dress with a flared skirt. Alex wouldn’t be able to see how much I’d bloated over the course of three awesome courses.
“Why would I want to do that?” he challenged. “I like talking to you, I don’t want you to fall asleep.”
I stared at him, propping my chin on my palms and resting my elbows on the edge of the table. His sapphire blue pools studied me, as they had for most of the evening. We’d talked and talked. He’d told me about growing up in Ealynn Sands and I’d shared stories of me and Darcy coming to see our grandparents in the summers.
“What brought you to Ealynn Sands now?”
He asked the question I dreaded. I twirled the empty glass, giving me something to focus on, not able to look at him.
“I mean, I know your sister’s here, but that can’t be the only reason, right?”
Slowly, I shook my head. I trusted him enough to tell him the truth.
“My fiancé was shagging someone he worked with.”
Alex’s jaw dropped. “You were engaged?”
Thatwas the thing he took from my statement?
He recovered himself. “I didn’t mean that how it came out. What a prick.”
Prick, arsehole, fuckwit, cockwomble…there were many endearing terms I now used in place of Russ’s name. Except when I needed him to cooperate on the sale of the apartment.
“How did you find out?” Alex asked.
I reached for the bottle of port and refilled my glass. Telling the whole sordid tale was going to require a lot more alcohol. “I came back from work and found them on the sofa.” The port burned a path down my chest as I took a huge mouthful and shuddered at the unwanted image that flashed through my head once more.
Alex looked down at the table. “Shit, Georgie, I’m so sorry.”
“I should have spotted the signs. All the client dinners, late nights at the office when he said he was preparing for a pitch, trips away for meetings. I never gave it a second thought. I was so stupid.” I still berated myself for not noticing something was wrong. But everything had moved so quickly, I hadn’t expected it to implode as it did.
“How long had you been together?”
I’m sure Alex expected an answer which ran into years, not months or weeks. I screwed up my eyes, working out how best to phrase it, then decided to spit it out, akin to ripping off a Band Aid.
“Five months.”
His eyes narrowed as he took in the time. “You were engaged for five months before he did that? Fuck.”
“Not exactly. I’d known him five months. Long enough to move in together and have him propose. Then a month later, it was over.”What can I say, Alex? I like to move quickly in a relationship. And look where that’s got me.
Laying out my relationship history so soon after meeting Alex would no doubt scupper any chance I had with him. Spewing it out on a first date — if that’s what this was — wouldn’t make me any more attractive. Usually, I fell quickly, and I fell hard. I was attracted to Alex. Could I keep things light and fun if he showed any interest in taking things further? It didn’t have to end in a ring.
“Wow,” he breathed. “Fast. But better that you knew sooner rather than later. Imagine if you had actually married him and then he’d done that to you.” He leaned back in his chair, sipping his own drink, a thoughtful expression on his face.
