Bar Bites: A Man of the Month Cookbook (Man of the Month 13)

"God, I missed you," Eric said. "Want a drink?"

"Can't. I'm not staying. I'm just meeting a date here, then we're heading out."

"Yeah? Who are you meeting?"

But that was a question Eric didn't have to ask. Because she was walking through the door, a smile of greeting on her face and her eyes on Ben. "Ben!" Tiffany said. And then, a split second later, her face went blank. "Eric?"

"Tiffany."

"Hey," Ben said. "I forgot you two work at the same place. Two of my favorite people at the same bar. How sweet is that?"

He slipped his hand around Tiffany's waist, and, Eric noticed, she didn't try to shake it off. Just stood there looking confused.

"I didn't think you were here," she said.

"You two better get going," Eric said. He tossed down a bar rag. "I need to go get some pineapples from the back."

And then he turned and walked away, seething that his brother had returned to take back what was his in the first place, and that Tiffany had intentionally avoided talking about Ben because--as was pretty damn clear now--Eric was just a warm-up for the main act.

Eric slipped away so quickly that Tiffany didn't have time to ask him why he hadn't warned her that Ben was in town. More important, she had no idea if Eric had told his brother that she and Eric were a couple now. She assumed he had-- why wouldn't he?--but since she wasn't sure one way or another, she supposed she'd just have to play it by ear. She wondered if Ben had taken it badly. Maybe so, because Eric's mood was definitely off.

She got her usual Grande Flat White and he ordered some drink with a variety of sweeteners and flavors. Eric, she recalled, drank his coffee black. Straight and to the point, she thought. That's how she liked her men.

"You haven't told me why you're in town. Just to see your parents?"

He chuckled. "That's what Eric asked. No, I've got a job interview. At the University."

"Really?" She couldn't decide what she wanted. She knew Eric and Ben were close, but it would be so much less awkward if he were in another state. Still, they weren't dating anymore, and hadn't been for a long time. So how much would he care, anyway? Surely he'd be happy for both of them.

"I'm thinking seriously of taking it if they make me an offer."

She flashed a bright smile. "You miss warm weather."

"I miss you," he said, boldly taking her hand. "I left because of an amazing opportunity, but I never felt like we were finished. I'd like us to keep moving forward. I'd like us to be together. I miss you, Tiffy."

"Oh." She froze for a second, then slowly tugged her hand back. "I--I don't really know how to say this gently. But, well, the truth is..." She drew in a breath. "I'm sorry, Ben. But I don't miss you. Not like that. I--like you a lot. But I don't love you."

"You could."

Her smile was melancholy. "I'm sorry, but I don't think so. Not like you want. As a friend, absolutely." She leaned forward. "And you deserve someone who sees you that way. Who saw you that way in their heart from the very first moment they knew you. She's out there, I'm sure of it. But she isn't me."

"Is there someone else? Someone you love?"

She ran her hands through her hair. "Does it matter? Even if there wasn't, it wouldn't change how I feel--how I don't feel--about you."

"And that," he said, "means there is."

She nodded. Love. She did. Fast, maybe. But true. "Yeah," she said. "There is. There really is."

Chapter Six

He was being irrational. He knew he was being irrational. And yet Eric still stood in front of her apartment and pounded at the door, waiting for Tiffany to open it, because he damn sure wasn't going away until she did.

"Hey!"

He whipped around and saw her coming up the concrete stairs with a canvas grocery sack.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. "Pleasant surprise, but aren't you supposed to be at The Fix?"