“Anything else?” the waiter repeats.
“A personality? For you,” Eric mumbles under his breath.
I force a smile. “That’s all. Thank you.”
The second he leaves, I kick E
ric under the table, causing him to yelp.
“What? He deserved it.”
“Perhaps, but I don’t want to find his spit on our food.”
Eric lets out an annoyed huff only to parade a grin moments later. “Okay, so how long are you here for? I need all the scoop.”
“What scoop?” I flatten the napkin on my lap, keeping my expression simple. “I’m here for two weeks at this stage, working, and thanks for letting me crash at your place.”
“C’mon, you never have to ask. Besides, no one else is there,” his tone softens, the rare yet vulnerable side of Eric emerging.
“Hey,” I say, placing my hand on top of his. “Have you spoken to Tristan?”
He shakes his head. “No, only stalk him on Insta.”
“That’s not the way to stay in each other’s lives.”
“Speaking of Insta.” Eric’s face lights up. “Noah is here. Saw his picture in the pool with the girls. Arm porn at its finest. I’m heading over tomorrow with the hopes to turn him gay.”
My lips curve upward into a knowing grin. I’d only met Noah this morning, and he’s every bit as gorgeous as the photographs Eric had sent me over the last few weeks. Not only is he sexy with a great dress sense, but there is also something comforting about being in his company. We laughed, we flirted—and tonight is exactly what I need to take my mind off things.
“He’s quite… attractive.”
“How long until you tell me what really happened in the car this morning?”
My mouth falls open in shock. It’s almost impossible to hide anything from Eric. Yet the biggest secret of all, I managed to keep between Charlie, Lex, and myself. Charlie knows better than to say anything to Eric, given that he loathes his brother and isn’t shy in expressing just that.
“How did you… Charlie.” I resign.
Eric rests his elbows on the edge of the table, clasping his hands with desperation etched all over his perfectly manscaped face.
“So? C’mon, Kate. My life is nothing but social media stalking and living vicariously through my other single friends who, as of this moment, are only you.”
Well, that’s a depressing thought.
“Nothing happened. We flirted. He’s sexy. We’re going to have drinks tonight.”
“And you’re hoping to get a little something… something to wipe out the cobwebs growing in your banana basket?”
I shake my head at Eric, barely able to laugh at this moment. If only he knew the truth, the life his brother led, the deep dark secrets he holds from his family. And how somewhere over the last month, I’d fallen for someone who didn’t feel the same.
As I stare into Eric’s eyes, trying to think of a response, I’m unable to see any similarity between him and Dominic. They both have Caucasian and Asian genes, though their features differ so much aside from a slight similarity in their eye color.
The day I met Dominic was at his mother’s sixtieth birthday. Eric dragged me to the event to be his plus one but soon abandoned me for a shrimp cocktail waiter who was related to Celine Dion. It wasn’t even of close relation, more like third cousins or something ridiculous like that.
Left alone, I had no choice but to strike up conversations with strangers not realizing Dominic was Eric’s brother. He was gorgeous and undeniably sexy with a muscular build underneath the tuxedo he wore. A simple thing such as his black-rimmed reading glasses enamored me. The more we spoke and realized we had similar connections in the business world, the more fascinated I became and attracted to him.
And perhaps everything about Dominic should’ve come with a warning.
I began taking steps toward a trap I never expected to fall into at the age of thirty, an age when I’m supposed to be wiser and knowledgeable when it comes to men.