Page 34 of King of Greed

You’ve spenteleven yearswith the same man. It’s time to broaden your horizons.

Sloane’s advice crept through my head again, and I took the leap before I could chicken out.

“By the way, do you have any plans for tomorrow night?” I asked, hoping I sounded casual instead of jittery.

Breathe. You can do this.

Aiden’s brows rose an inch. “Nothing concrete. I usually catch a game with friends at a bar, but that’s flexible.”

I may not have dated in years, but even I recognized a deliberate opening when I saw it.

“Do you want to grab dinner? A friendly one,” I rushed out. I wasn’t ready for a real, official date yet, but this was as close as I could get for now. “I want to thank you for referring me to the contractors. I would’ve spent weeks trying to find good ones if it weren’t for you.”

Surprise flickered in his eyes, followed by a pleased grin. “I would love to get dinner with you.”

This was a mistake.

It’d been less than twenty-four hours since I’d invited Aiden to dinner, and I already wanted to kick my past self for her foolishness.

We’d said it was a platonic date, but I’d gotten my hair done and he’d cleaned up in a dress shirt and non-denim pants.

He looked nice,reallynice, but everything seemed wrong. The scent of his cologne, the way he guided me through the restaurant with his hand on my arm instead of the small of my back…it was like trying to force a puzzle piece into the wrong slot.

Stop overthinking things. You had years to get comfortable with Dominic, and you barely know Aiden. Of course it’ll feel weird at the beginning.

“I’ve never been to this restaurant,” Aiden said as we sat at our table. “But I’ve heard great things.”

“Me too.”

An awkward silence descended. We conversed so easily at the shop, but outside the box of our previously defined relationship, I couldn’t think of a single interesting thing to say.

Should I talk about the weather? The upcoming holidays? The article I’d read about a rat infestation on one of the subway lines? Probably not. It was New York. There was always a rat infestation.

Luckily, our server arrived soon after and saved us from drowning in the tension.

“We’ll have the merlot. Thank you,” Aiden said when the server presented the wine list and I told him to choose. After all, it was his thank you dinner.

“Don’t you…” I bit back the rest of my sentence.

Dominic always ordered a cabernet, our mutual favorite, but I wasn’t on a date with him. I would never go on another date with him again.

The burn that spread behind my eyes was so fierce and sudden I didn’t have time to steel myself. One second, I was thinking about pasta and dessert; the next, I was on the verge of tearing up over a complimentary basket of garlic bread.

Get a hold of yourself.

I was having a perfectly palatable dinner with a perfectly nice, handsome man. I shouldnotbe thinking about my ex-husband. But despite my moving out, Dominic signing the papers, and Cole’s call informing me everything had gone through without a hitch last week, it hadn’t hit me that I wasdivorceduntil that moment.

No ring. No marriage. No Dominic.

I grabbed my water and chugged it, hoping it would wash away the taste of my failed relationship. It didn’t.

“You okay?” Aiden asked gently. Our server had left, and he watched me with a cautious expression that made me want to cry all over again. “We can take a rain check if you’re not feeling well.”

He was tactful enough to give me an out that didn’t involve mentioning my teetering meltdown.I’m the worst dinner date in the world.

“No. I’m fine.” I cleared my throat. “I just had something in my eye.” I could stick it out for one meal. It was food and conversation, not torture. “You recently came back from upstate, right? How was that?”

Whether it was the wine, impeccable pasta, or my utter determination to salvage the evening, Aiden and I finally hit our stride during the main course.

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