No. The woman was arresting.
But that wasn’t what was eating at him. What burned at the corners of his consciousness was the realization that this could have been their path. Would have been their path had they not been two foolish kids who’d let pride and secrets rip them apart.
He’d used to dream about this. In college, when his life had mostly been a whirlwind of media attention for his soccer career and parties, he’d dreamed about what would happen after, when it was just the two of them, and he could just be.
Emma had been his place of calm. The one who’d centered him.
Right up until the point she’d left him.
She took another sip of her wine. “I should be going. You hardly look devastated over your breakup, so there go all of my plans of making you cry yourself to sleep.”
He smiled. “I liked Danielle.”
“But?” she said, lifting her eyebrows.
“You really want to hear this?” he asked.
“Cassidy, give me a break. You’re going to be reading about twelve of my exes. I think I can handle hearing about one of yours.”
“Well,” he said, topping off their glasses, “I could imagine Danielle in my life just fine. She was smart. Pretty. Sweet.”
“But…”
He shrugged. “It was also pretty damn easy to picture my life without her. In fact, the thought of her not being there didn’t cause so much as a pang. I don’t think it’s supposed to work that way.”
“No, it’s not,” she murmured.
Everything in her tone said she wasn’t a stranger to the feelings he’d just described. And when she spoke again, it wasn’t what he wanted to hear.
“I should go,” she said again.
Don’t. Please don’t.
The thought caught him off guard and he frowned.
But it was the first time in so long that she’d let him near her. The first time she’d talked to him, even if there seemed to be miles of distance between them instead of just a kitchen counter.
He didn’t want it to end.
“How’s Daisy?” he asked, desperate to keep her around.
Her gaze flicked up. Wary, at the mention of her twin sister. “She’s good.”
“I used to get Christmas cards from her, but they stopped a year or so ago. I figured maybe you’d forbidden her to contact me.”
She laughed. “Don’t flatter yourself. I didn’t care that much. But don’t take it personally. She quit sending Christmas cards altogether after her divorce.”
“Ah. I’m sorry. I hadn’t heard.”
He and Daisy had been friendly enough in college and during his and Emma’s engagement, but after the way he and Emma imploded, he figured it was pretty natural that Emma’s twin sister wasn’t exactly inviting him to dinner parties.
“Yeah, her ex-husband is a tool,” Emma said. “All Daisy ever wanted was to start a family, but Gary put her on hold for years, saying he needed to focus on launching his career. That he didn’t have time for a family. Then bam, out of nowhere, he files for divorce. Turns out he took up with his boss. Who was…wait for it…pregnant with his baby.”
“Ouch.”
Emma nodded. “Definitely. Daisy took it hard, but she’s bouncing back now. She always does.”
“And your father?”
Emma’s eyes went a little frosty at that. “I’m surprised you don’t know. He confided in you more than he ever has in me.”
Alex immediately regretted asking, because the shit of it was…Emma’s accusation was true.
Winston Sinclair cared about his daughters desperately, but he could also be a misogynistic ass who thought nothing of sticking his rich, well-connected nose where it didn’t belong.
Still, Alex had occasional kind thoughts toward the man. Not only because he’d helped a college kid with nothing but soccer to his name and gave him a chance at an actual career. But also because Winston had been the one responsible for Emma and Cassidy getting together, albeit by accident.
However, the man had also been the catalyst for things going to complete shit the night before the wedding.