Max thrust out his hand. "I’m Max, Sam's brother."
She nodded. "I can see the resemblance."
Sam grinned. "It's that identical twin thing."
"Does that mean you're the same in every way?" She glanced at me with a cool, aloof expression.
“He’s smarter,” Max said, “but I’m better looking.”
She shifted her body so that it faced Max and then leaned over, putting her finger on the menu as if she was pointing out an item. Max's gaze went straight to the gap that opened in her blouse.
"This is the specialty of the house. The fish is fresh daily.” Still leaning over, she gave Max a flirty smile.
I kicked Max under the table. He flinched, his eyes going to the menu.
Kate straightened, turning her head slightly toward me and smirking.
Anger boiled up. "I get it, Kate. You hate me, but you don't have to seduce my brother."
Her eyes narrowed. "You brought this on yourself. You're the one who killed our relationship."
"If you didn't feel anything for me anymore, then why did you let me fuck you on your desk the other night?” I was out of line, but I couldn’t rein in the frustration any longer.
Max's hands went up in surrender. "Whoa! I don't think I need to be here for this."
"It was a mistake,” Kate hissed, glancing around us, presumably to make sure the other customers didn’t hear the conversation.
I wanted to reach out and tug her close and make her see that she was wrong about me, about use. "We aren't a mistake. Can't you feel it?" God, I was pathetic. My desperation was out there for all to see.
"It doesn't matter what I feel. I don't trust you." She said the same thing to me the other night. In fact, she said that the problem wasn't in loving me again. It was in trusting me again. Did that mean she still loved me?
Hope swirled inside my chest. I had to make her understand. "I felt I had to do the right thing by Sandra and Chelsea. My father did the same thing when he discovered Max and I were his kids. He married our mother. I thought that's what I had to do."
"And so you did. I'm not angry at your choice, or maybe I am. The problem now is that the choice was made."
"Dad didn't marry Mom just because of us," Max said, looking at me quizzically. "They loved each other. In fact, they would have married even if we weren’t his kids."
I glared at him. He wasn’t helping.
Kate’s expression filled with even more hate.
"The truth is when Sandra showed up, you took her back because she was the one you really wanted. I had been the consolation prize until she came back. I imagine things between you didn't work out and she left. Is that why you’re here now?"
I shook my head. "That's not true."
"The truth is, Sam has been a miserable fuck since he left you. And I know he hurt you, but maybe he could get a little credit for being honorable, at least."
Finally, a little support from my brother.
Kate turned her glare on Max.
“You know, if you two got out of your own way, you might have another chance,” he said.
"I'm not the one in the way." I was the one begging for another chance.
Kate took a step back, adjusting her expression into indifference. "I don’t want to get out of the way." Then she turned and left our table.
Max blew out a breath.