away, but in the long run, you’ll be glad you found out who he is now rather than after the vows.”
“I hope so,” I reply too quickly to believe it.
The tip of his finger lifts my chin. “I mean it. You’ll get through this. You’re here.” A wry grin arrives right on time to remind me of how handsome he is. Not like I could forget. All I have to do is look at him. But I had begun to wallow when he drags me out of my sorrows.
A lightness lifts my shoulders back up, and I nudge him with my elbow. “You speak like you’re an expert.”
“I am.”
I don’t know why this feels like a bombshell, but as I said, look at him. Who in their right mind would cheat on someone so gorgeous? There’s only leveling down from him. “I don’t understand.”
“It might not have been on my wedding day, but it was shortly after.”
“Come again?”
He chuckles, then says, “I don’t know what you have planned for the rest of the day, but do you want to get a drink?”
“Only if it includes food.”
“It definitely includes food. Some of the best in the city.”
“Well then . . .” This time, I offer my elbow and a grin. “Show me the way.”
We hook our arms and start strolling toward the avenue. The bistro is only a few blocks away. We’re quickly seated at a table inside. After ordering a bottle of wine and appetizers, I rest my elbows forward, and say, “I don’t mean to be nosy, but what happened?”
“I have a few theories, but I think it came down to the fact she wanted to be married without those pesky vows being exchanged. The perks without the promise.”
Making sure no one around us overhears, I ask, “She cheated on you?”
A gentle nod backs my theory. I cover his hand that’s resting on top of the table. When his eyes leave our hands, he says, “You get married thinking it’s forever, but then that life is stolen amid one confession. At least she had the courtesy to cry when she told me. I have to believe she loved me in some small way, or she wouldn’t have bothered.”
The server returns with the bottle. Rob grins as the wine is poured. Watching the wine cross his lips is the equivalent of watching porn in public. I blush, but I still can’t take my eyes off him as a heat rolls across my chest. I clear my throat and exhale. “You give her a lot of credit, considering how she treated you.”
“She was blinded to what was right in front of her. I was there, however she needed, but I’ve come to realize her cheating was never about me. It was about how she viewed her own life.”
I take a long sip, trying to loosen the coil tightening in my belly. When that doesn’t seem to work, I eye the label, trying to translate the French on the front. I finally return my attention to him. “That’s a mature way of looking at it.” The way he watches me isn’t lost in conversation or the distraction of wine.
The table feels smaller when he steals space over it, leaning closer to me. “I’m not that noble.” If his voice didn’t already do it, the way the words drift from his mouth to my ears seductively would definitely have my attention. “I had no choice, and it was easier to move on than dwell on a past built on lies.”
“Loan me your strength. I have a feeling I’m going to need it.”
“You have everything you already need. Trust me, Beth.” He holds up his glass, and I hold mine up as well. When the rim of my glass meets his, our gaze locks, and he toasts, “To making the most of the moment.”
Chapter Three
BETH
“I’ve been thinking,” I start, not worried about spending more time with him because lord knows I want that. So much. Rob is charming and attractive, and there’s just something so comforting about having an ally, so to speak, when I thought I’d be on this vacation alone.
Not that he’s with me with me, but he’s with me now, and that counts for a lot.
“About?” he asks, the wine working its way through his body by how relaxed—even in a suit and tie—he appears compared to when we sat down an hour ago.
“I have dinner reservations tonight, and I was wondering if you’d like to join me?”
First, the smirk, then