“I don’t think I am, but if I am, I’m sure you’ll find proof to back it up. We’ll meet again in a week.” I stood up and grabbed my things.
“Sir,” they all said in relative unison. As I left my private office in the back of the club, I hoped this was the best course of action to uncover the truth of what really happened all those years ago.
Mackenzie
I SAT FIDGETING IN the seat of Tyler’s Jaguar Saturday evening as he drove through the streets of South Padre. “So, what exactly do you have planned for tonight?” I asked, breaking the silence.
“You’ll see,” he replied, winking slyly. He grabbed my hand in his and shifted through the gears, a buzz in the air between us as I drank him in. His tan suit fit him perfectly. I was convinced it should be a crime for anyone to look that good in a suit. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him during the drive to wherever we were going.
When he finally pulled into a sandy beach lot, my mouth dropped open as my eyes fell on the same restaurant where we shared that first lunch when I barely knew anything about him.
“What are we doing here?” I asked.
He killed the engine and turned to face me. “We’re making new memories.”
“What do you–”
“I don’t want you to be reminded of my lies whenever you look at certain places.”
“I’m not…”
He narrowed his gaze at me. “I know how it is, Mackenzie. I do it, too. I want you to have better memories of us. I need those, too. Every time I drive by this restaurant, I don’t want to be reminded of the reason I took you here in the first place. I want to be reminded of new memories that we’ll make tonight. Okay?”
Nodding, I smiled. “I’d like that.”
Opening the door, he ran around to the passenger side of his car and helped me out. Before I could react, he pulled my body to his, taking me by surprise. “You look amazing, Serafina,” he growled, his tongue exploring my neck.
My eyes fluttered closed as I lost myself in the moment, not caring that we were out in public. I wanted nothing more than to go back to my place and finally experience Tyler once more. It had been so long since I had felt his body move in perfect harmony with mine, and I was desperate to be consumed by that mind-blowing high only Tyler could give me.
“I love it when you call me that,” I murmured, whimpering as his hands began roaming my body, the silken material of my black dress against my skin only heightening my awareness of him.
“And I like calling you that,” he replied.
“Why don’t you call me that all the time?”
He exhaled, running his fingers through my hair, forcing me to look into his eyes. “I can’t. Not yet. Not until I know that no danger will come to you because of who you truly are. Until then, I only feel safe using your real name in private. Even then, I don’t want to use it too much. I don’t want to run the risk of getting used to it and slipping up. Okay?”
I remained entranced by his sincere green eyes, the sound of the crashing waves echoing in the distance.
“Okay,” I agreed.
“Good. Hungry?”
I laughed. “Always.”
He wrapped his arm around me, keeping me close and steady on my impractical leopard-print stilettos, as we walked up the wooden steps to the restaurant.
We entered the building and I almost didn’t recognize the place. Where I expected to be faced with the sound of dishes and lively conversation, I was met with beautiful music being played by a live band… The same band I had hired to play opening night at my restaurant.
Noticing my bewilderment, he placed his hand on my lower back and led me through the empty dining room. “This way, mi cariño.”
We stepped onto the back deck and I saw that it had been cleared of all the tables except one…a cozy table set for two. I couldn’t help but grin at the amount of thought Tyler put into this evening. I didn’t want to even think what it cost him to convince the restaurant to close for the night just to accommodate us, but I was grateful he did. I needed this. I needed to be rid of the memory of our first lunch here. Instead, I wanted to look back