She sighed and looked around, anywhere but at me I noticed. “I’m embarrassed. I’m not crying over my ex because I’m sad he dumped me, or because I want him back. Nothing like that. I’m not crying over him at all. I just…I’m embarrassed and angry. I spoke with Grandma about it, though, and I’m fine.”
“You want to know what I think?”
She smiled and nodded, leaning farther back into my arm. “I’d love to know.”
“I think he knew he wasn’t playing in his league. He never would’ve been good enough for you. He sabotaged the relationship by cheating and being the ultimate dick, in some childish attempt to make himself feel bigger than he is. Then, you leave, and he finds a poor girl who maybe isn’t going to ever demand more from him. He’s spiraling because he knows he just lost the best thing that ever happened to him. He panics and proposes to the new girl to make himself feel like he’s doing just fine in life.
“Barely a few weeks later, they’re married, and he realizes that not only does the sweet new girl have expectations of him, so does her family. He’ll spend the rest of his life remembering the time he had a woman so far above his league fooled into thinking he was worth something. He’ll be a blip of time to you, a moment that you remember as a mistake only a younger Sugar would make. You’ll be an entire story to him.”
She stared blankly back at me for a few moments and then a smile stretched across her bright red lips. “That was so nice.”
Laughing, I grabbed my wine glass with my other hand and took a drink. Being the focus of her attention was a feeling I could only relate to being high. My mouth went dry if she stared too long and I felt like I was starving. I wanted to devour her and everything about her. It made me feel like I was sitting in a boat, rocking peacefully back and forth. Sharing her with the guys had been fucking hot and amazing, but having her look at me and only me was a different kind of intoxicating.
“It’s true.” I pulled my eyes from her mouth and focused on her wide, almost teal-colored eyes. “I should send him a thank you card. Maybe a late wedding gift. Him making the biggest mistake of his life got you right where I want you.”
Leaning into my side, she sighed breathlessly. “At The Brownstone?”
I leveled her with a serious look. “Here. My house. Over me. Under me. If it’s a place, I want you there.”
Her cheeks darkened and her pupils dilated. “You make some interesting points.”
“Holden Notaro!”
I turned around and saw Chef Thomas Craig standing a foot way. He didn’t look thrilled to see me.
I couldn’t say I was surprised by his reaction. I’d ripped his ideas for his fall menu to pieces at a meeting earlier in the week. “Thomas. What can I do for you?”
“If you’ve come to make even more changes, I won’t hear it.” He crossed his arms over his barrel chest and glared at me. “I’ve given way more than I feel like I should have.”
I leaned back in the booth and smiled while gesturing to Sugar. “Chef Thomas, allow me to introduce you to my date, Sugar.”
Sugar leaned over me to extend her hand. I slid my arm around her waist as she did, stealing a chance to hold her tighter. “SJ. No one calls me Sugar, except these fools. You’re the chef here? I’ve heard so much about you.”
Thomas’s chest grew as he listened to Sugar. “I am the chef here. Nice to meet you.”
“I’ve never been able to eat here before, but I have a friend who ate here for a wedding party, a couple of months back. I’ve never considered murder before, but when she went into detail about the entrees in front of me, knowing I’d probably never get to eat one, I felt like a jury of my peers would’ve acquitted me.”
Thomas might as well have had cartoon hearts floating around his head as he stared down at Sugar. “You flatter me. I’m just a man, a man who loves food.”
I grunted and would’ve thrown an insult his way, but Sugar’s grip on my thigh left me silent. If her fingertips shifted forward just another inch, she’d be touching just where I needed her.
“I can’t tell you how excited I am to be here tonight. Please don’t hold me accountable for whatever mean thing he did.” Sugar glanced at me and I saw the mischievousness in her eyes as she leaned even farther into my space, all but climbing into my lap. “Normally, I’m a cheap date, Chef Thomas. I never want to take advantage of someone’s kindness, but I can’t help myself tonight. I’m going to order so much food.”
I rolled my eyes and ran my hand lower down her back, taking advantage of the shitty situation I was in, watching her act as if this mediocre chef was some god.
I ground my teeth together and thought of what Dominic had told me about her spanking. I’d never been a BDSM guy. I liked all kinds of sex and I’d do most things with a good attitude, but I’d just never felt the need to spank a woman before. Something about Sugar made me rethink my stance, though. She was ornery and knew it.
“For you, I’ll bring whatever you want.” Thomas glowered at me and then grinned broadly at Sugar again. “I hope you find better dates soon.”
26
***Holden***
WhenThomasleftusalone, I turned and pressed into Sugar, pretend glaring as I stared down at her. “You shameless woman.”
She giggled and twisted against me in the tight booth. “What did you do to that poor man?”
I shrugged, dismissing the subject as I ran my eyes over every inch of her. “You’re a magnet, Sugar. People can’t help being sucked into your orbit.”