One of my regular customers approaches with a four-person drink order. He’s brought his out-of-town in-laws to the bar. I slide my phone into my pocket to prepare the order while I chat with him about the must-see sights in the city.
My phone is back in my palm the second he drops a tip into the jar on the bar in front of me.
I curse under my breath when I see there’s nothing from Katie.
My thumbs linger over my phone’s screen. I want to type out another message telling her that I can’t stop thinking about her. I want to confess everything to her, including her part in my life these past five years, but I stop myself.
She didn’t sign up for this.
I turn up the volume on my phone to the highest setting and pocket it again.
She didn’t tell me to go straight to hell so I know there’s something left in her heart for me too. This isn’t over.
It might just be a new beginning.
Chapter 24
Kate
I waited five days before I replied to Gage’s text message.
Part of the delay was because of work. A lot was going on at the boutique including an appointment with the mayor’s daughter. She’s a celebrity in her own right since she landed a prime position as the lead anchor on one of the national morning shows.
We worked out an agreement a few weeks ago that would allow a camera crew access to the boutique to capture the moment she found her dream dress.
It didn’t go as planned.
It took three days and over a hundred dresses to find one that she loved.
Once the segment airs next week, I know business will pick up even more.
I admit that I did look at Gage’s text messages at least a few times a day.
When I finally did text him back this morning, he was the one who suggested we meet at Palla on Fifth after I was done work. It’s a café on Fifth Avenue that makes the best cup of coffee in the city.
I look down at the faded jeans, white blouse and heeled sandals I’m wearing. I stopped at home after work so I could change out of the plum sheath dress I had on. I needed the time to decompress.
Olivia called to check in on me just as I was leaving my apartment. We haven’t talked about Gage since the night he showed up at the boutique.
After he left, she told me that she had given him my number because she could tell that things aren’t completely settled between us.
Today, she followed that up with a
stern warning about watching myself when I’m around him.
“Sort your past, Kate, and keep your wits about you whenever you see him. He’s too handsome for his own good.”
I didn’t bother arguing with her.
I swing open the glass door of the café and spot my ex-fiancé immediately. He’s sitting alone at a small circular table, his fingers tugging on the beads of the bracelet on his left wrist.
I take a moment to watch him.
Olivia was right when she said he’s too handsome for his own good. I’ve always thought he was the best-looking man I’d ever seen. The past five years haven’t changed my opinion on that.
The first time he kissed me, I felt something inside of me crack open as if a match had been taken to it.
I lit up. Every cell in my body came alive.