Series: The Laws of Opposite Attract Series by Vi Keeland
Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 98878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98878 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 494(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
After a brief pause, she said, “That’d be nice.”
I exhaled. “Can I call a car for you?”
“Okay. Yes. Thank you. I’d appreciate that.”
“There’s a café right around the corner from here. We can go there and talk until you have to go.”
A bit shocked that she’d agreed to meet me, I stopped short of leaping into the air for joy after we hung up. Don’t get your hopes up. It’s just coffee. She felt guilty for not telling you she was in New York. It doesn’t mean anything.
Thirty minutes later, I waited outside my building until the car showed up.
A breeze blew Alex’s long blond hair around as she exited the vehicle. She was so beautiful and looked amazing in a white peacoat and high-heeled boots. Her mouth curved into a smile when she spotted me standing there.
Instead of pulling her close and kissing her so damn hard, like I wanted to, I held out my hand. She took it. “Thank you for coming.” I squeezed before placing my other hand over hers.
Alex smiled and looked up at the building. “This is it, huh? The famous building?”
“It is.” I smiled proudly.
“It’s bigger than I imagined.”
If these were different times, I might’ve hit her with a sexual joke right then. But alas, I kept my mouth shut. “Come on. I’ll show you inside.”
Alex and I spent the next several minutes touring my property. I specifically didn’t show her my apartment, but we rode the elevator to the top floor, hung out on the rooftop for a bit, and wandered the hallways before heading back outside. I’d wondered if we would run into any of the guys—at least Holden, maybe, since he worked in the building doing maintenance—but no one turned up.
“I’m so glad I had a chance to see it,” Alex said as we stood together on the sidewalk after.
“Me too. I wish it were under different circumstances. But I’ll take what I can get.” I walked toward Billie’s storefront as she followed. “One more stop I want you to see.”
“Ah, this is the famous tattoo shop,” Alex said.
We peeked inside, but Billie wasn’t there. From the window, I pointed out Deek, who was busy inking someone. “That’s the guy I wanted to hook Wells up with.”
“Oh, he’s definitely Wells’s type.”
“Pretty sure he might be everyone’s type, and my type, too, if I swung that way.” I winked. “Come to think of it, my life would be a whole lot less complicated right now if I were gay.”
Alex smiled sadly.
“Come on.” I winked again. “Let’s get that coffee.”
Over at the café, Alex grabbed a table while I went to the counter to order her coffee, prepared just the way she liked it. I also got a few different kinds of pastry in case she was hungry.
“Are you trying to fatten me up so you no longer want me or something?” she asked, looking down at the sweets I’d brought to the table.
Like I could ever not want you. “I wasn’t sure what you felt like.” I shrugged. “Bring them back for Wells, if you’re not hungry.”
After a few minutes of sipping our coffee, as we alternated between staring into each other’s eyes and people watching through the window in silence, I finally asked, “So, tell me what’s going on with Caitlin…”
Alex stared down into her cup. “Believe it or not, we haven’t talked about anything since that weekend, and I haven’t seen much of her. That’s been unsettling. But at the same time, I don’t want to be the one to bring it up.”
I nodded. “I can understand why she’d want to forget the whole thing.” For all I knew, this time at the café might be my last opportunity to set some things straight. I didn’t want to waste it. “I didn’t have much of a chance to explain some things to you,” I told her. “Mainly, I’ve been holding back because I don’t want to come across as a bigger asshole than I already seem, given the circumstances.” I paused. “But I need you to know that the feelings I had for Kate back in college pale in comparison to what I feel for you. I don’t want to seem insensitive, but I’m not sure if she’s given you an accurate picture of what things were like between us.” I shook my head. “She and I were never serious. At least, that’s not where my heart was at the time. I never told your daughter I loved her. I never led her on.” I let out a breath.
Alex fidgeted in her seat. “That doesn’t make me feel any better, Brayden.”
I raised my voice. “I still need you to know.”
“Okay,” she muttered. “I understand.”
“I wish more than anything that things were different. But I can’t expect you to disregard her feelings. I understand the type of person you are and why your relationship with Caitlin would be more important than your own happiness. I can’t argue with that or ask you to change for me. But I want you to know that losing you will always be the biggest regret of my life.”