Page 44 of Only a Kiss

“Sorry again about the change of location.I should’ve known the other restaurant would need reservations, but at least now it’s like a real do-over,” he said with a bright smile as he adjusted his napkin on his lap.

Yes, a do-over in the same restaurant he stood me up in.

The same restaurant where everything started with Travis—at least where he knew who he was actually flirting with.

I chugged another large mouthful of wine.

This night might’ve been easier to get through if Josh and I had any sort of chemistry, but we’d been here for over half an hour and I’d felt all thirty of those minutes with painful slowness.He was a nice guy, but there was no spark, not even a tiny flicker.And being here in this restaurant with the absence of a spark only made me feel even more hollow because I knew what I was missing.

The way Travis’s eyes watched me with an acute awareness during our dinner.How we laughed easily, talked easily, simply enjoyed each other easily.

Maybe that was where it went wrong.It was too easy.That should’ve been a red flag.Relationships are never easy.They’re hard work.They take constant effort.Or at least that’s how mine have always been.I thought the fact that everything was different with Travis was a good thing.Like maybe we could find a way to make it work.

Now I just felt naive and pitiful.

“Sadie?”

“Hmm?”I pulled my gaze up from the crisp white tablecloth where it had wandered and then subsequently zoned out.

“You okay?You seem distracted.”

God, I was being a horrible date.“I’m sorry, Josh.It’s not you, I promise.”

He sat back in his chair watching me.He really was handsome with his stereotypical California blond-haired, blue-eyed surfer physique, and I had no doubt he’d make some lucky woman very happy someday.It just wouldn’t be me.

“The old ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ line.I haven’t heard that one in a while.Do you want to talk about it?”

I shook my head and then looked out the window, not wanting him to see the hurt I couldn’t hide in my eyes.“There’s nothing to talk about.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” he said, but it sounded mumbled.I could feel the presence of another person and I assumed it was the waiter, but thenhisscent hit me, and I had to close my eyes against the pain that suffocated me from the smell.

Travis’s cologne.

I’d know it anywhere.

I pulled myself together the best I could and turned my head, and even though I knew it was his scent, the fact Travis was actually standing here, next to my table while I was on a date with another man, made my mouth part and my eyes stare in complete disbelief.

What was he doing here?

His gaze was filled with so much love—wait, no.Not love.It couldn’t be love because he’d made it clear he didn’t feel that way, but it was the look I’d always thought meant he might love me, and now I felt stupid all over again.

“Travis.”I glanced behind him.“Are you here for another work meeting?”I was proud of myself for how composed my voice sounded.

“I’m here for you.”

I gaped at him in shock, but quickly pulled myself together.“W-what?”

His gaze was fierce and locked on mine.“You can’t date this guy.”

“Excuse me?”Josh said at the same time I said, “Why the hell not?”

Travis bent down, placing both his hands on the sides of my chair, trapping me with his body, and oh God, I wasn’t strong enough to be this close to him and not completely fall apart.

“Because you belong with me, the same way I belong with you.”

I must’ve heard him wrong, or had too much to drink, although I only had the one glass of wine.“You don’t want me.”My words were barely a whisper, but it felt like they ripped my heart a little more as they escaped into the air.

He shook his head slowly, his hazel gaze never leaving mine.“That’s not even close to true.I’m fucking miserable without you.I love you so much, Sadie, it hurts to breathe without you next to me.”