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The heat of the cheese hits me at the same time his words do. “Agh.” I cough the burning cheese into my napkin and spin on him, my mouth still on fire.
“No.” I take a long gulp of water but it does nothing to reverse the burn. When I can finally talk, I’m even more annoyed with him. “You don’t get to say that. You cheated on me. You’re not going to make me feel bad about respecting myself when you don’t.”
Anger flashes in his eyes before it completely disappears, his face becoming a blank slate. “You’re right.” He blows out a breath, shoving a hand through his long, dirty-blond hair. I used to love playing with his hair, but I used to love lots of things. Like naps and dino nuggets.
Okay, I still love those things.
“You know we wouldn’t have worked out, right?” I say.
“Yeah,” he scoffs. “I know.”
I bristle. That’s not exactly the answer I wanted to hear. A bit too casual for my liking.
“But I did care for you, Millie.” He aims his tender blue eyes at me. The same ones that also lied to me for months.
“I cared for you too,” I admit reluctantly.
“It wasn’t all fake,” he says, his voice almost sad.
I sit up straighter, my spine turning to ice. I never thought it was. He proposed to me. I almost…well, I almost started planning a wedding with him. We were in love once, I know that.
“Maybe we could be friends?” he asks, his expression so hopeful it hurts. I’ve always had a soft spot for the underdog. But this is Justin, the man who cheated on me.
“Maybe. In time,” I add quickly before he can read too much into it. But the small widening of his eyes tells me he already has.
“Hey, do you still have the ring I gave you?”
This question takes me by complete surprise. “Why?”
He swivels on his stool and takes another swig of beer. “If we aren’t going to work out, maybe it will with someone else.”
And there goes the camaraderie between us. He wouldn’t dare use the same ring to propose to another girl. Would he? Then again, he works as a lifeguard at a nursing home. He probably used his entire salary to purchase that crappy ring.
“I might have it somewhere.” I know exactly where it is. In the bottom of my jewelry box stinking up the place.
That’s a metaphor for my relationship with him if I ever heard one. That thing turned my finger green two months after I put it on so, I wore my mother’s engagement ring instead. I forget I have his ring until I open the bottom drawer and am hit by the putrid, rusty metallic scent. I could give it back to him, but it belongs in the trash. Not on another woman’s finger.
“Let me know if you find it, please,” he says, an edge to his voice I don’t appreciate.
I turn away muttering an okay of sorts around a mouthful of burger. I take two more bites in complete silence. But suddenly it’s too silent.
I glance to the left in time to see him disappearing out the front door. Looks like he finally got the hint.
But he’s not the only suspicious character out tonight. There’s a lone figure in the shadows, just beyond the front window.
For a moment, Caleb’s warning catches up to me that I could be in danger. But then the figure shifts and light from the streetlamp lines his impressive physique and a smile finds me.
Chapter 22
Caleb
The man Amelia was talking to stands up and strides to the front door. The door I’ve been watching through for the last few minutes. Has it been obvious? Incredibly. But Amelia hasn’t seen me.
Another reason to keep an eye on her. At least until she makes it safely back to her car. It has nothing to do with me wanting to be near her. Because I don’t need to be near her. And my heart doesn’t beat faster when she’s around and I can completely focus on work when she’s in my line of sight.
I step to the side as the door flies open and the man bursts through.
I pretend to study the fliers outside the bar as he walks by.