A bittersweet grin kisses his lips as he relives that memory.
“If you think it was easy for me, you’re wrong. It wasn’t easy at all. If you think I’d forgotten about you, I hadn’t. I couldn’t even if I wanted to. The emotions we had for each other spun out of control back then and made sex addictive and unimaginably beautiful. It raised what could’ve been ordinary fucking to a memorable experience. Love does that to sex. It turns it into the ultimate thrill. That’s why people fall so hard. And that’s why we did. We got lost in each other. That’s why it was so painful to tear away from you, but I knew that by doing so, our story would live on. No love story ever dies until it lives its life and reaches its conclusion. That’s what I counted on. And that’s why we're here tonight,” he says, his eyes sinking into mine.
He pauses.
There’s nothing I can add to that.
“Let’s eat,” he mutters in a different voice, motioning to the plates. “The food is getting cold.”
12
SENNA
We eat in silence.
Once in a while, I glance at him, realizing how much I missed this familiar sight. Us eating together. Him never rushing.
We order desserts soon after.
Chocolate cake for him and strawberry mousse for me. I fidget a little until I voice a nagging question.
“Since when is she no longer your client?”
He brings his eyes to me.
“Crystal Sanders?”
“Yes.”
“The night I met you.”
I’m waiting for him to elaborate.
“I ended it officially a few nights back.”
“The night you had dinner with them?”
He nods.
“Was that a goodbye kiss?”
“Yes, it was,” he says, holding my eyes. “She wasn’t what you think she was.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“Would that be all?” the server asks, his gaze skimming the table.
“Yes,” Jaden says.
“I’ll have them boxed,” the man says, sweeping the dessert plates off the table.
Minutes later, he brings back a cute box adorned with a bow and the check. Jaden hands him his card, and we wait a few more moments until the man returns with the receipt. I hook my finger under the golden ribbon and pick up the box as we both rise to our feet, ready to leave.
I saunter in front of him, heading for the exit, when his hand slides to the small of my back.
“Let me take you home,” he says. “We’ll use your car, and I’ll come back later to pick up my mine.”
I glance at him.