"I'm not running away from what happened… I mean, I like what happened in your room, Rowan." He closes his eyes briefly. "We were both really emotional this morning. I was scared about Asher."
"Me too," I say through a sigh. "I'm relieved it wasn't him."
"I'll hire someone to find him." He shuffles his feet against the weathered cork floor. "I'll do that today."
I'm grateful that he's taking that step. I should express that but I don't want to cloud the moment with words of gratitude that may be construed as being about what happened earlier. I'm not going to thank him for getting me off when he's intent on racing out the door to save a shipment of shirts.
"I'll call you soon." He leans forward and brushes his lips over my cheek before he turns on his heel and walks out of my apartment.
Chapter 21
"Maybe his dick is hideous."
Again, the food in my mouth almost flies out mid laugh. I have to stop chewing in order to avoid swallowing because I know I'll choke. I turn to the left to see a huge grin on Graham's face.
"I bet that's what it is," Ivy agrees almost instantly. "My first lover, Mark, had a really ugly penis. It was shaped like a…"
"Stop," I say loudly as I dart my hand into the air. "I'm not going to have a discussion about cocks in the middle of this restaurant. I happen to like coming to Axel NY. I don't want to get thrown out."
"I know the owner." Ivy searches the room. "He won't care if we talk about it."
"I care," I point out. "You two can talk about it all you want once I leave. I can't stay for dessert."
Graham juts out his bottom lip into a pout. "You can't leave. We're here for you. Ivy and I are going to help you get through this."
"I'm fine," I half-lie as I pick at the salad on my plate.
"You're not fine." Ivy motions towards our server. "You need more wine."
I shake my head as I hold my hand over the top of my glass. "I don't need anymore. One glass is my limit."
"I know you're upset, Rowan." Graham taps my shoulder. "I saw how you looked when I got home on Saturday."
I wish Graham hadn't marched through the door less than fifteen minutes after Caleb left. The emotional weight of the day had gotten to me and I was sitting in the living room, crying my eyes out. Most of that was genuine relief over the fact that Asher was just missing, and not dead. The other part, which is the part I expressed to Graham, was that I felt a definitive shift in Caleb when the phone rang and he tore himself away from me.
I know the Foster's business from listening to Caleb talk about it for years. I understand that both Caleb and Gabriel have a work ethic that is impressive. I also know that Caleb could have delegated the problem to someone else. He could have made a call and solved the problem in an instant. He didn't do that. Instead, he chose to walk away with little explanation.
"It's not the first time I've been rejected by a man. It won't be the last. I'll talk to Caleb about it so we can clear the air."
"How exactly do you talk to a guy about something like this?" Ivy asks as she waves at someone across the room. "I mean it happened a couple of times with me and Jax but he realized right away and dropped whatever he was doing to focus on me."
Thanks for pointing out yet again how utterly perfect your husband is, Ivy.
"Caleb and I can talk about anything." I smile when I see the owner of the restaurant, Hunter Reynolds, walking towards us. "I'll just be direct. We will clear the air and everything will go back to the way it used to be."
"It will never be the way it used to be." Graham leans close to whisper the words into my ear. "Your friendship with Caleb is ruined forever. He crossed a line. You two can't go back."
I don't glance in his direction. I absorb his words knowing that he's right. What Caleb and I did in my apartment changed the path of our friendship forever.
"Rowan Bell," Hunter Reynolds says my name as he extends his hand out towards me. "I'm glad to finally meet you."
"I'm glad to meet you too," I parrot back as I smile and pretend that I'm having the time of my life in his restaurant even though my heart is breaking inside.
***
I scrub my hands over my face as the taxi weaves a path through the streets of Manhattan. I know that I should be going to see Caleb. The smart and sane thing to do would be to confront him now and clear the air.
We haven't spoken at all in the three days since he left my apartment in a hurry. I have no sense of what's happening with Asher even though I've continually tried to contact him. I did try to follow up with the police detective assigned to investigate the missing person's report Caleb filed but he was reluctant to share anything given that I'm not a member of the Foster family. My last approach is to contact Gabriel. He's due back in New York in two days but I know him and I know that he'll be livid once he learns that Asher is missing.