“Likewise. He has told me how much he credits his company’s success to your support.”
We talked shop for several minutes while the small line at the buffet table thinned out, and then we proceeded through the line and took seats together at a nearby table. I quickly discovered Adrian and I knew many of the same people. We talked about mutual friends and projects before I inquired what his schedule was like.
“I’m actually surprised Ian mentioned my project,” I admitted. “He’s the lone holdout on the property I need to acquire in order to make the project work.”
Adrian nodded and grinned. “He told me that too, but I have some ideas. That is, if you’re okay with me butting my nose in where it doesn’t belong.”
I laughed. “Are you kidding? I’d love it.”
We talked through lunch and were still exchanging ideas when I noticed the crowd had thinned and the servers were cleaning up the tables. I’d kept my eye on Ellison the entire time and had progressively lost my appetite as every woman at the table had flirted and tried touching him.
I could no longer kid myself into thinking my annoyance was because of the reputation of our fake relationship. No. It was pure, gut-snarling jealousy. I didn’t want any of those ladies to even consider they could take what was mine. And Ellison York was mine regardless of how conflicted that knowledge made me feel.
At one point, he caught me staring at him, and his eyes immediately scanned the area to see who I was sitting with. When he saw Adrian’s hand on my shoulder, Ells’s eyes narrowed.
Good. Now he knew how I felt.
Even after that had happened, I was surprised when Ellison walked over and took the now empty seat next to me on the other side and reached out to run his fingers lovingly through my hair. “I missed you at lunch. You were sitting so far away.”
He wasn’t a good actor, but Adrian didn’t seem to notice. He wouldn’t have any reason to, considering the man was married to one of Binnie’s friends.
I took his hand down from my hair and pressed a soft kiss to his knuckles before holding his hand on the table. “You seemed to be having fun. I didn’t want to interrupt you.” I lifted an eyebrow at him.
“True. It was nice to catch up with Cate. We have so much shared history, and she was desperate to spend time together.” Ellison took a sip out of my water glass.
I wanted to laugh at this game. It was completely different now than when we’d played it on the tennis courts because now I knew the truth. He didn’t want Cate. He wanted me.
And he had to know my truth too.
Adrian made a soft throat-clearing noise. I turned back to him and apologized. “Adrian Mahoney, this is Ellison York… my fiancé.”
Ellison choked on the water and nearly upended the glass as he tried to set it down on the table. I took it from him before reaching over to smack him hard on the back. “Baby? You okay?”
The look he shot me was full of the heated promise of retaliation, and I couldn’t wait. How long had it been since I’d felt so alive, so engaged with another person I cared this much about?
“Totes fine, darling,” he sputtered. “You just reminded me of something I forgot to tell you, and I was so excited to get it out, I inhaled my water. Silly me.”
I deliberately didn’t ask him what he wanted to tell me because I knew it would be over-the-top. Instead, I patted him again and told him to take it easy and maybe not speak for a little while.
His eyes flashed at me. “No, no. If I don’t tell you now, I’ll forget again. I was able to get you in with Madame Desdemona for the day we get back to town. She knows how important her sessions are in helping you make your business decisions. But she did warn me she won’t have the crystal ball that week, so you’ll have to make do with a tarot reading. I said that was fine. You mentioned the other day feeling more spiritually connected to tarot these days anyway.” He looked over at Adrian with a sweet but serious smile. “Who knew crystal balls needed their own mystical regeneration periods? I sure didn’t. Apparently she has to send it off to this place in Arizona where they’re… re… Honey, what’s the name of that process again?” He blinked at me with complete innocence.
I wanted to grab him by the throat and kiss his fucking face off. He was magnificent, and I wanted him more than ever before.
“Reconfigure and rejuvenate the refractivity,” I said with a nod. “I believe it takes around ten days unless, of course, there’s a full moon. You know how testy balls can be.”
Adrian looked back and forth between the two of us as if trying to deduce how much of our bullshit was real.
I leaned over and whispered to Adrian even though we all knew Ells could still hear me. “He enjoys trying to embarrass me with crazy stories, but he doesn’t realize that I love hearing them too much to be embarrassed. And as long as this sexy man is on my arm, how could I regret a single moment?”
Adrian smiled wide and let out a laugh. Ellison’s face turned a deep shade of pink, and I reached over to grasp the side of his neck before leaning in and pressing a kiss to the edge of his mouth. “I’m sorry,” I whispered in his ear.
He shook his head slightly, disengaging my hold on him without making it obvious. “He’s right,” he said, leaning around me to speak to Adrian. “I made up part of the story. Her name is actually Madame Hollyhock, but that’s too ridiculous to say out loud.”
Adrian let out another laugh and told Ellison he might need to consult with the woman himself. “I have high hopes of landing a new project soon, but I wonder if she could give me advice on how to find out if I stand a chance.” He glanced at me with a cheeky grin.
“No fortune-teller visit needed,” I said. “I’d love to connect when we get back to town and discuss things further. I’ll find you later and give you one of my cards.”
Ellison reached into his pocket and pulled a card out of his wallet. “Here’s his card.”
I stared at him in surprise. Ellison shrugged and grinned. “I’m part fiancé, part PA. I try to be indispensable.” He added a laugh, but I could see some truth to it. He was a people-pleaser.
After saying our goodbyes, Ellison and I got up and walked out toward the boardwalk that led over the dunes to the beach. We didn’t speak, but when we got to the end, we both took off our shoes before proceeding down the stairs to the sand.
“You may continue your apology,” Ellison said with a sniff.
I reached for his hand and held it as we walked. Thankfully, he let me.
It took me a little while to organize my thoughts. “I don’t trust people easily.”
Ellison snorted. “You don’t say.”
“And I’ve spent a lot of years blaming you for things.” Thankfully, he stayed quiet. “Which isn’t really fair considering you were a drunk twenty-one-year-old.”
“I tried apologizing back then. I tried making it right. I’ve apologized again to you this week. I don’t know how else to tell you how sorry I am.” The anguish in Ellison’s voice squeezed my chest.
“I know. I didn’t want to hear it back then. I needed to think of you as a villain. And I can’t be sorry for that now because that anger was part of what fueled me and eventually led to my success.” We walked through the sand to the edge of the surf, being careful to avoid the sharp spikes of broken shells underfoot. Seagulls squawking and the regular soft crash of the waves reminded me how long it had been since I’d visited the ocean.