Page 133 of First Comes Love
“Fucking hell,” he murmured, rubbing the side of his jaw.
“What?” I asked. “What is it?”
His eyes raked down my body, then back up to my face, looking somewhat overheated by the time he was done. “Wow. That’s a, um…that’s a dress, Ces.”
I peered down at my dress, then back up at him with a smile. I couldn’t help it. Any doubts about whether or not I could still pull off this slinky thing vanished with Xavier’s heated expression. “Thanks.”
“No, thank you.” He swallowed, appearing to compose himself. “Sorry. But you should know you look, ah, bloody fantastic.”
His voice creaked slightly on the last word, and my smile only grew as mentally I made a note to thank Kate again for forcing me to wear it.
“This is fantastic,” I told him, gesturing around. “I had no idea. When you said you were opening a new Japanese restaurant, I thought it would be, I don’t know, like a regular sushi bar.”
Xavier just smirked. “I don’t do regular, Ces. You know that.”
“It’s for her, isn’t it?” I asked. “Not just the name. The flowers, the menu, the decor. All of it.”
His smirk disappeared. Looking almost bashful, he nodded. “She’s been a help.”
“She loves you.”
“And I her,” Xavier said plainly. “She’s taught me…” He shook his head. “Christ, she’s taught me how stupid I was about all of it. I had no idea what love was until I met her. No fucking clue.”
I chuckled. “Kids have a way of doing that.”
“She’s not the only one.”
He looked me over once more, then curiously took my hand and turned it over and back, like he was examining a precious stone, or maybe an ingredient in the kitchen. Then, slowly, he raised it up and pressed his lips to my knuckles.
“Xavi…” I started, though his hand was already slipping around my waist. I felt myself moving closer, lost, like a magnet.
For once, though, it wasn’t just lust in his eyes. There was something deeper there. Some odd longing I knew was probably echoed in my own.
It wasn’t a good idea.
Was it?
“Ces—” he started.
“Xavier! Mr. Parker!”
We both turned to locate the source of the interruption—a slight man with short, bleached hair waving his hand madly at Xavier.
Xavier turned back with a lopsided smile. “Shit. That’s Leonard, the manager. I’d better sort that. Get you a drink later?”
I nodded. “Sure. Take your time.”
* * *
“You knowhe hasn’t stopped staring at you all night?”
I turned to find Kate next to me, sipping a yuzu cocktail while she peered across the room at Xavier, who was back to holding Sofia in his arms while he spoke to someone who looked a lot like Benedict Cumberbatch.
“That’s a laugh,” I said. “And anyway, it doesn’t matter.”
“It doesn’t?” Kate eyed me closely. “Are you really telling me there’s been nothing between the two of you since you…you know?”
I sighed. I’d broken down and told Kate about the little one-night mistake Xavier and I had made a few months ago. Just like I’d told her that since, he’d been the perfect gentleman.