“I made a vow.” His gaze fell to the table top. “Until death do us part.”
Heat climbed up Lauren’s neck. “And that’s admirable. I get it. But only one of us became Saint Mike. I spent six months wondering what I’d done so wrong that made you erase me from your life.” Hell, her voice had gone all high and crazy. She took a deep breath. “I read about Shelly’s health problems in press releases, Mike. I learned she died on Twitter. I don’t know why you thought you had to throw a grenade at my life in order to make everything right.”
He cringed. “I’m really sorry it went down like that,” he said quickly. “I owed you an explanation, and you never got one.”
Lauren took a deep breath and realized she actually wasn’t going to cry. Because his apology helped. A lot. She’d been waiting a long time to hear him say these things, and they shored her up inside.
“I will always regret the way I handled things,” he continued.
“You said you . . .” Loved me. Hell. She couldn’t say that out loud. “The betrayal really stung. I haven’t really trusted anyone since.” She didn’t like admitting it. But the truth was she hadn’t gotten close to anyone new in ages—not romantically, and not even friends.
“I’m sorry, Lo.” He put his elbows on the table and his head in his hands. “I made a mess of everything.”
“Elsa probably disagrees,” she said, and then kicked herself for comforting him. That’s not my job anymore, she reminded herself.
He shrugged. “Elsa’s had a really hard couple of years. Some days I think she’s doing okay. But then there are times when we’ve squared off over something. And she just looks at me like she can’t believe the incompetence of her only surviving parent.”
Lauren chuckled, but she was suddenly so drained of energy. And the waiter set a little shopping bag down on the end of the table, then set down her check.
“Here.” She scrambled for her pocketbook. “Thanks,” she said, quickly laying some cash in the bill folder. It was time this evening came to an end.
“I’ll walk you out,” Mike said.
Please don’t, Lauren begged silently. She had reached her emotional overload threshold already. But he followed her out onto the wet sidewalk.
The rain had stopped, thank god. Whipping out her Katt Phone, a few taps found her an Uber driver who was just three minutes away.
Mike looked up the shimmering street and sighed.
Lauren followed his gaze, wondering what he saw. They were on one of D.C.’s many grand streets, full of stone facades and wide sidewalks.
“I like cities,” he said, turning to her. He reached up and touched her cheek with one calloused hand. “I wanted to live in one with you.”
“Michael,” she said sharply.
“What?”
“You can’t say things like that.”
“But it’s true.” He looked down at her, and what she saw in his eyes stole her breath. His expression was achingly familiar—the same tractor beam of love that he used to show her all the time.
She got trapped in that gaze, the same way she always had. She didn’t push him away as he got closer. Then his arms were around her and his face was buried in her hair. His hug was meltingly sweet, and Lauren bit her own lip just to stop herself from feeling any joy.
He took a deep breath and pressed his lips to her cheek.
If she turned her face, he would kiss her. Instead, she tucked her chin onto the shoulder of his suit jacket. “What do you want from me, Mike? You want me to say I forgive you, so you can feel better about the whole thing?”
He pulled back, his ridiculously handsome cleft chin right in front of her nose. “No, honey. I’ll never feel better. But I was hoping that we could get to a place where I walk into a room and you don’t feel you need an instant excuse to leave it.”
Lauren held very still. They were still chest to chest, and the proximity was making her a little crazy. “It’s not easy to be around you,” she admitted. “Too many memories.”
He made a sound in his chest that she felt everywhere. “Well. If it’s never going to get any easier, I’ll have to settle for making sure that we’re both in agreement that I was an asshole. Hell, I’ll make a formal announcement over the jet loudspeaker if you want.”
“No!”
He chuckled. “I would, though. I’d do anything for you. I mean that. If you need a favor—I want you to remember that I said so. Twenty years from now, if there’s a spider in your bathroom you can call me to come and kill it.”
“I’m not afraid of spiders.”
“Okay, a rattlesnake then.”
His joke broke the tension, so she tilted her chin up to meet his smiling eyes. And that’s when he kissed her. It was a sneak attack. She wasn’t ready for the soft lips that met hers, or the whiff of beer on his lips, or the masculine hand that cupped her face, angling her nearer.
Mine, her body said, pressing closer.
No! Her brain tried to stomp out the brush fire that kiss had caused. She stepped backward to break the spell. “I can’t,” she gasped.
That’s when the door to the tavern swung open and Ari, the team massage therapist, and Georgia, the publicist, stepped out of the bar. “Hi,” Ari said, her face becoming cautious, as if wondering if she was interrupting something.
“Hi.” Lauren took another healthy step away from Mike. “I was just heading back to the hotel. Want to join me? The car should be . . .” She looked around. “Right there, I think.” An SUV was waiting for the light at the other side of the intersection.
“Uh, sure?” Georgia gave her a funny little smile, as if surprised at the offer.
When the car stopped at the curb beside them, Mike opened the rear door and made a show of greeting the driver and looking him over. “Take care of these ladies,” he said, and Lauren wanted to roll her eyes. As if she didn’t use Uber at least once a day, in cities all over the world. Alone.
Ari slid into the car first, followed by Georgia.
Lauren avoided his gaze as she followed, but he squeezed her arm as she got into the car. “Take care of yourself.”
“I will.”
He closed the car door, giving her a wistful look as it clicked shut.
The car pulled away from the curb, and Lauren leaned back, feeling shell-shocked. Mike Beacon just kissed me, she said to herself. Did that really happen? “Jesus Christ,” she breathed.
“I hope we didn’t interrupt anything,” Georgia said quietly.
“Nope,” Lauren said quickly.
“Patrick told me just last week that you and Beak used to be a thing,” Ari said.
“True story.” Lauren sighed.
“What happened?”
Perhaps the answer to that question was more complicated than Lauren used to think. “Depends who you ask. He broke up with me over the phone the month we were shopping for apartments together.”
“Ouch,” Georgia said.
“The other side of the story is that his ex-wife was terminally ill. He panicked and went back to her after a year and a half with me.”