Page 56 of Thank you, Next

Alex faded into the background and looked around at what Will had created. She was so freaking proud of him. It was cool without being trendy—simple, bare, minimalist, but everything had its perfect place. It was so essentially Will that he permeated everything about the restaurant.

Her gaze was meandering when it hit the sommelier, whom she instantly recognized as one of her exes. She hadn’t even planned to talk to Gilles as part of her aborted ex-boyfriend project, because she knew exactly why they broke up. Gilles had told her he loved her after three months of a very intense affair, and she had never spoken to him again.

It had been right after Ace, the stand-up comedian. She’d been sure that he was lying to her, that he had said it while he was drunk and would ghost her. He’d said it right after strenuous sex, so she’d assumed that he’d been addled by the loss of blood to his brain. So she’d snuck out and never returned his calls.

Shame filled her gut, and Alex wanted to run and hide again. But if she did that, she would never be able to come back here while Gilles was working here. And she was going to try to resist doing her avoidant shit with Will, so maybe facing up to it with Gilles would help her keep that commitment.

The Frenchman looked fantastic. She’d never figured out how the cowlicks in his hair always managed to make it sit in a carelessly tousled sexy way. He had craggy, gray-stubble-covered cheeks that dipped in fascinating ways as his expression changed. It had been the first time she’d dated a man significantly older than her. He wasn’t old enough to be her father, but he was too old to be her older brother. Strands of silver threaded through his dark hair, making him look hopelessly distinguished. He was still tall and lean.

If she wasn’t pretty sure that she was in love with Will, she would definitely still be wildly attracted to Gilles. That was what had scared her away. Someone who devastated her senses every time he was near, who treated her well and was in love with her, had been too terrifying to contemplate and too good to believe.

She remembered that she’d been happy that he’d married the next woman he’d dated—an Instagram fitness influencer whom he’d started working out with after their breakup. Apparently, she’d made him quit smoking.

Their gazes tangled. To her shock, he smiled at her. He spoke some words into the ear of the server whom he’d been giving instructions to and approached her. She didn’t pull back when he kissed her on both cheeks. She found herself smiling back at him.

“Alex. It’s a surprise to see you here.” Although he’d been born and raised in Paris, he spoke English without a discernable accent. “You look beautiful.”

“You don’t look so bad yourself,” Alex said. “I’m here because... uh... well, Will is close with my family.” She didn’t know where she and Will stood, so she didn’t want to tell one of his employees that they were together. That was for Will to decide after he decided whether to forgive her for her childish fit over April’s visit.

Gilles accepted her explanation and looked at her empty drink. He motioned to the bartender. “Champagne for my friend.” Alex knew it would be perfect and smiled back at him.

“Listen.” She put her hand on his arm, taking the opportunity to apologize gracefully. “I’m so sorry how things ended between us. You were lovely. Our time together was lovely. I just—”

“No need to explain,” he said. “You were not ready for me to say the things I said. And I’m not sure that I was ready to say them. And if you had not dropped me like last year’s jeans trend, I would not have found Harmony.” His wife’s name was Harmony, and it was a testament to Alex’s growth that she refrained from rolling her eyes.

“I’m so glad you’re happy.”

With that, he handed her champagne with a kiss on her cheek. If she had been looking at their tableau from the outside, their affection might have appeared to be something else. Like a dance that would lead to hot, sweaty groping in the coat room.

It was likely the worst time for Will to see them, Gilles’s hand on her waist and them toasting. But if Alex didn’t have bad luck with men, she’d have none at all. And Will walked out of his kitchen to see them in that moment.

TWENTY-FOUR

Why was Alex embracing his new sommelier? At first, he didn’t get mad or jealous, just curious. Maybe it was because Alex had gotten so jealous when April had showed up at his place, but he was slammed with irritation seeing another man touching her as though he had a right to. He was pissed that she was smiling at another man when she’d denied him that for almost a week.

He’d come out of the kitchen to see what the holdup was with Alex and Lexi’s table and because he wanted to see Alex. He’d almost expected her to come seek him out in the kitchen, and he would have welcomed that. Not from anyone else—he’d snapped at his publicist when she’d interrupted them during prep today to take some pictures for Instagram—but he craved Alex. He’d just wanted to hold her for a minute. Even a chaste kiss on the lips.

Instead, she was out front, flirting with his sommelier.

The moment she saw him, her face fell and she stepped back from the other man as though she had something to feel guilty about.

Gilles didn’t seem to notice any weirdness, because he held out his arm. “Will, I didn’t know you were family friends with Alex.” The sommelier put his hand on his chest. “I used to think that she was the love of my life.”

Will was one of a crowd, then? Thinking that Alex was the love of his life. Alex’s eyes grew wide. She stepped farther away from Gilles. “Can we talk for a minute?”

Will felt himself turn to stone. He didn’t want to talk to Alex right now, because he wasn’t feeling reasonable about things. He didn’t want to do the dance where they hurt each other and then reconciled again. He didn’t have the time for it tonight, and he didn’t have the energy for it in the long run.

But the past week had shown him that it wasn’t just about getting Alex to trust him enough. She would never trust him enough. He was just part of her pattern with men. His first thought was that she’d made him fall in love with her, and now she was done with him. His first instinct was to shut her out and shut down.

But that’s what he would have done while he was married. So he caught himself. He didn’t want to play these kinds of games with Alex. He was way too old for that shit. He was too in love with her for that shit.

“I don’t think there’s anything to talk about right now,” Will said, trying to sound as calm as possible. “I just missed you this week.”

“This is not what it looks like.” Alex stepped closer to him, and Will took a step back, almost taking out a server with a tray.

“I know. I know.” That was true, but he put extra tenderness in his voice. If he talked to Alex now, he wouldn’t get to say all the things he wanted to say. “Let’s just leave it until later.”

He could see the uncertainty in her eyes, and it made him ache. But the ache now was nothing compared to how it would feel if they kept hurting each other. If they were truly going to let each other in, they had to learn to trust each other. To trust that they didn’t need to sink their teeth into every conflict. He could love her all he wanted, but they both had work to do on being good at relationships. He saw that now.