Ava smirked, knowing what I was thinking. “We can have a drink when it’s over. Just rip the Band-Aid off and go over there. It might not be so bad.”
She handed me a ticket with a drink order. “Table three wants some fru-fru drink. It will keep you busy back there for a few minutes anyway.”
Swearing under my breath, I took the ticket. “Stay close.”
Ava smiled. “I will. I can’t wait to watch the show.”
I wagged my finger at her. “This is all your fault, you know.”
“My fault?”
“If you knew blue from brown, I wouldn’t have told off the wrong guy that night. Caine and I might not have gotten off to the rocky start we did, and we might have kept things professional.”
Ava hooked her arm with mine. “You’re welcome then. Let’s go.”
Behind the bar, I busied myself making Ava’s drink order at the opposite end from where Davis and Caine were sitting. I avoided looking over as long as I could, but eventually curiosity won out and I found both of them watching me mix the drink.
I waved nervously and shook the drink in the shaker for way too long. Then I wiped down the counter and asked the only other two patrons if I could get them anything else. With nothing left to do and four eyes on me, I had no choice but to face the inevitable.
I took a deep breath and headed to the other end of the bar. Since I’d already said hello to Davis, I looked to Caine first. “Hey. I didn’t know you were stopping in.”
He glanced sidelong at Davis and then stared me down. “Yes. Apparently I should have called ahead for a reservation.”
Shit.
Davis, oblivious to Caine’s identity and the meaning of his comment, laughed. “Yeah, this place is an old man’s bar. It’s empty at night. I only come for the pretty bartender.”
The muscle in Caine’s jaw flexed.
I pointed to Davis’s empty glass. “Would you like another?”
“Sure.” He pointed to Caine. “And I’ll buy my friend here one, too.”
Caine stared at me. “No, thanks. On second thought, I’m going to call it a night.” He stood abruptly, and the legs of the stool screeched on the floor as he pushed it back out of his way. “Get home safe, Rachel.”
And just like that, Caine was gone.
“What’s up with that guy? I take it he’s a regular?”
I took Davis’s glass from the bar. “He stops in once in a while. Let me get you that refill.”
Ava met me at the other end of the bar. “What the hell happened?”
“Nothing. Caine left.”
“Because of something Davis said?”
“No. He just left.”
“So he just left you to spend the evening with a guy he knows you had a relationship with once and who wants to try it a second time?”
I knew she didn’t intend for it to be hurtful, but she was right, and the truth stung. That was exactly what had transpired. Caine had bowed out. He wasn’t in it for a fight. He wasn’t in it for anything other than what we’d had—sex. Anything else I’d built up in my head was just wishful thinking.
Rachel
I had no right to be angry.
Although not having a right to feel a certain way and actually controlling how I felt were two different things. I tried in earnest to disguise my bitterness after class the next day. As usual, I’d waited for the room to empty before going down to speak to Caine. I’d held an extra-help session before class, and he liked to keep the sign-in sheet to see who was making an effort. I handed it to him.
“You were late.”
“No, I wasn’t. I got here right on time.”
“I was referring to the extra-help session.”
The session hadn’t even been held in a building Caine taught in. And I was barely late.
“I was literally two minutes late. And you’re checking up on me?”
He stared at me. “I don’t like lateness. Maybe you should plan to start the sessions later if you have to work late or whatever.”
It was the or whatever that let me see past the blank mask he wore.
I squinted. “Were you looking for me this morning for a reason or just checking up on me?”
“Just be on time, Rachel.”
“Answer my question.”
Caine had turned away from me as he packed up his bag, but he stopped to look at me. His eyes were dark. “Not here. I can tell this conversation is not going to be one I should have in my classroom.”
“Fine. Then where would you like to have it?”
He lifted his bag off his desk. “I prefer not to at all.”
I folded my arms across my chest and raised my voice. “So you’re done with me, then? Is that what you’re trying to tell me? Because I prefer direct. If we’re done fucking, you can just say so.”
We had a mini stare off, and I knew I was pushing his tolerance to the max. I also didn’t give a flying shit.
“Seven o’clock,” he said. “I’ll come by your place after my last class.”
“I work day shift until eight tonight. I’ll come to your place after.”
I had no idea what had possessed me to say that. Why would I want to drive from Manhattan back to Brooklyn upset in the middle of the night? But my emotions felt so uncontrollable, I’d grasped for anything to have some semblance of control.
“Fine. But I’ll pick you up. I don’t want you driving at night tired.”
Surprisingly, the rest of the day flew by. O’Leary’s was busy, and working with Charlie rather than Ava meant I didn’t have to talk about my life all day long. A little before seven, I was in the rear of the adjoining dining room talking to a couple who were regulars when my attention was diverted. I spotted Caine walking in. My heart started to race.
I was fooling myself trying to pretend I wasn’t going to be hurt when he reminded me what we’d had was purely sex. All the logic in the world couldn’t stop my heart from falling.
After I checked in on my tables and let the last straggling customers know they’d need to settle up at the bar, I went over to Caine. Charlie was standing nearby.
“You remember Caine, Charlie, right?”
Charlie extended his hand. “The Professor. West, right?”
Caine shook. “That’s right.”