I smiled at him. I had no idea where he got peonies, considering they were out of season in this state, but every week, without fail, peonies turned up at the station.
“You know I love them.” And I did. “Where are you getting them?”
He grinned. “I’ll never tell.”
I rolled my eyes. “Infuriating man.”
Henry tugged on my hand. “You love it.”
Any attempt to remain expressionless were obliterated under his deliberately heated stare. No matter how many times I tried to not react, I failed. I laughed and shook my head at him.
Our meal arrived and I attempted to let go of the uneasy butterflies in my stomach so I could enjoy it. This was my treat. Every week, a burger at the Bristol Lounge.
I was digging in and made the mistake of looking up from my burger as I chewed.
Henry was staring, a small smile curling his lips.
Swallowing, I put my burger down and wiped my mouth with a napkin. “What?”
“Nothing.” He dug into his filet.
“It was something.” I huffed. “You don’t stare at a woman when she’s eating a burger, Lexington. It’s rude.”
He chuckled. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Come on. Seriously. What were you staring at?”
Henry leaned toward me and said quietly, “I like watching you. Whether you’re eating a burger or coming around my cock, I like watching you.”
Did I mention he had a tendency to say filthy things to me in public? I threw my napkin at him and he laughed, ducking to avoid it.
“Well, you wanted to know.”
The truth was I loved our banter. I loved how playful he was and I was never bored when we were together. In fact, I looked forward to seeing him like an addict looked forward to their next fix. It was dangerous, I knew it, but I couldn’t stop myself. And I really believed Henry felt the same way. No one could look at someone with the deep intensity he looked at me with and not feel the same way, right? My past lovers had told me that they cared but now I knew, after feeling the sincerity in Henry’s words, those prior words were merely letters put together on the tongue.
“Henry.”
The voice abruptly yanked me from my sweet musings.
It was a voice I did not want to hear.
“Mother.” Henry pushed back his chair and stood. I finally drew my gaze upward to watch him round the table to kiss his mother’s cheek. She stood before us looking ill at ease. Behind her was another well-put-together woman around her age and a young, beautiful brunette, likely in her early twenties.
To say things had been strained between Henry and his mother was to put it mildly. It had gotten to the point where he’d stopped visiting his parents’ home, and I could only surmise it was due to her opinion of me. I truly didn’t know what I’d done to upset this woman so much, but it was clear she detested me, and even more so now that her hatred had damaged her relationship with her son.
It was horrible to be the cause of their discord, and I’d tried talking to Henry about it but he didn’t want to discuss it.
“How are you?” he asked.
Her expression said, “You’d know if you called more” but she kept those words to herself. “Well, thank you. You remember Edina Hamilton?”
Henry nodded and held out his hand to the older woman. “Nice to see you again.”
“You too, Henry.” Her eyes ran over him appraisingly and there was something in them that made me stiffen. I realized what that something was when she practically yanked the young brunette into Henry’s personal space. “You remember my lovely daughter June. She graduated from Yale this summer.”
His smile was lazy and flirtatious as he shook June’s hand. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you.” She beamed up at him. “I still can’t believe I graduated.”
“June was pre-law,” her mother preened. “She’ll be attending Harvard Law in the fall.”
“Impressive. Smart and beautiful.” Henry winked.
I hated him.
His mother shot me a smug look while he wasn’t paying attention and I squirmed in my seat.
Yes… the last few months with Henry had been blissful. With one exception.
His inability to not flirt.
I’d tried to not let it bother me.
But it bothered the heck out of me.
“Well, our table is waiting,” Mrs. Lexington said. “Before we go, Henry, I was thinking you could introduce June to Caine as she hopes to go into corporate law. It’s best to make all the connections she can now, am I right?”
“Definitely,” Henry said affably.
“Oh, wait.” June dug into her purse and produced a card. “My number.”
He took it. “Have a lovely lunch, ladies.”
As they walked away, Henry returned to the table and I wondered how much of a scene I’d make if I stuck my fork in his hand. I tried to tell myself that his flirting didn’t mean anything, but I guess I wasn’t thick-skinned enough to be able to put it to one side.
I didn’t want him telling other women they were smart and beautiful.
I didn’t see other men anymore. I only saw him. And it hurt to think my feelings were more involved than his.
My appetite gone, I shoved the burger around my plate.
“Are you okay?” He frowned at me after a few minutes.
I nodded, afraid to speak in case I screamed at him.
He sighed. “I know it was rude of me not to introduce you but I was going to before my mother said they had to get to their table.”
My answering smile was tight.
“Is it because of my mother? Because I told you not to worry about that.”
In that moment, I wanted to claim a headache and leave him there but that would mean doing so in front of his mother, and I didn’t want her to think she’d won. Instead I said, “No, it’s not that. I just have a bit of a headache.”
“We can leave.”
“No. Finish lunch.”
Afterward we strolled out of the restaurant with Henry’s hand on my back, and he nodded at his mother and her companions as we left.
“Why don’t I drop you off at my apartment? You can get some sleep, get rid of that headache, and I’ll take care of you when I get back from the office.” He kissed my hand as we sat in his car outside the hotel restaurant.
His words were sweet but I was still pissed way the hell off. I shrugged my hand out of his. “You know I really just want my own bed.”
Henry searched my face and I did my best to keep my expression neutral. With a heavy sigh, he drove out of the hotel driveway and joined the traffic, heading toward Lower Roxbury.
Outside my apartment I gave him a quick peck on the cheek and jumped out of his car before he could question why I was acting so strangely.
Once inside I leaned against my door, trying to catch my breath. It felt like I’d sprinted home. I was jealous and hurt over Henry’s flirting but did I have any right to be? Surely he didn’t mean anything by it. But me? I was keeping the truth from him.
I was all wrong for this man.
He needed a woman who accepted him for who he was.
He needed a woman who could be totally open with him.
Ten minutes later, my phone beeped. It was a text from Henry.
Are we okay?
I wanted to tell him no. We weren’t. And we probably weren’t going to be.
Then I thought how wonderful it felt when we lay in each other’s arms at night and talked until we fell asleep.
So I replied:
Of course. I’m just tired. We’ll talk soon. xx
* * *
One of the best things about dating Henry was the fact that he’d introduced me to Alexa. It would be an understatement to say that she and Caine had been through the ringer over the summer. If I told you what had happened to her, to them, you’d think I was making the whole thing up.
Alexa—or Lexie, as I called her—was fully recovered fr
om the disaster, thank God. Even better, she and Caine were a real couple now. It turned out Caine was head over heels in love with her. I didn’t think it was possible for Carraway to love anyone more than business, but after witnessing him with Lexie these last few months, I knew it to be true. He stared at my friend like there was no one else in the world like her.
And he never flirted with other women.
Ever.
He didn’t even look at other women!
Suffice it to say, I was envious.