Page 171 of Strange Seduction
She smiled, smoothing her curls back. “It’s the sun.”
No mention of me.
I wasn’t petty enough to point it out, but I noticed.
We took a table under the awning of a cafe she picked out. The little café overlooked the cobbled square, sunlight filtering through the trees, dappling the tablecloths with soft gold.
Marcus sat across from me. Carmen slid in between us like she belonged to neither.
The waiter brought a bottle of red. Marcus poured for her before I could.
I clocked it.
She laughed at something Marcus said.
Not a polite chuckle. Not one of those broken exhales she’d been offering me over the last few days. But a real laugh—head tilted, eyes lit, that low, warm sound I hadn’t realized I’d been starving for.
I should’ve been grateful.
Instead, I was restless.
I sat across from them, trying to remind myself that I’d called him.
Ilet Marcus come.
But watching Carmen smile like that, the way she tucked her legs up on the chair like she used to, the way she picked at her salad while listening to him go on about some new case they were going to be working together back in New York—it made something in my chest twist.
She hadn’t looked like this in days, now that I thought about it. Not after the investment ball and not untilheshowed up.
I stirred my espresso with unnecessary force, watching the cream swirl into the dark center of the cup. Every part of me wanted to be happy that she was smiling again.
But I wasn’t.
Not entirely.
Because it hadn’t beenmewho pulled her out of it, it had beenhim.
I clenched my jaw and sat back.
It wasn’t jealousy. Not exactly. I trusted Carmen. I trusted her enough to let Marcus into our space when she needed him most. But there was something about how quickly she returned to herself inhispresence that unsettled me.
I watched her laugh again and lean toward him slightly.
And I made up my mind.
She wasn’t going back to New York.
I wasn’t ready to let her out of my sight. Not after this. Not when I knew that if I hadn’t made that call—ifhehadn’t shown up—she might still be curled in a ball in the dark.
She needed time. And I needed to be the one who gave that to her.
I cleared my throat, finally joining the conversation.
“I’ve been thinking,” I said, eyes on her. “You should stay in Italy a little longer.”
Carmen blinked at me. “What?”
“Work can wait. And I’m sure Marcus can handle whatever is needed at the firm. You’re not ready to go back. You need time to grieve properly. And I want to give that to you.”
