Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Astrid
I had every intention of working until eight and then getting ready for my date, but Eloise insisted that I go up to my apartment early. She handled closing up Vinyl Crush with Heath by her side.
I tossed him a look that I hoped was intense enough to warn him to treat her well. I can’t say for sure if it accomplished that, but when I did say goodnight to them, he was staring at my cousin.
I want Eloise to find happiness, but since she barely knows Heath, I want her to be careful too.
“I’m meeting someone for dinner,” I say to the host at Axel Tribeca when he reaches for my wool trench coat.
Cooler temperatures have settled over New York City again, so I couldn’t leave my apartment wearing only my little black dress.
I grabbed the trench coat from my front closet. My mom bought it for me during one of my visits when I was eighteen.
It was the dead of winter, and a sudden storm hit the east coast. Before I woke up one morning, she trudged through several inches of powdery snow to buy us matching coats.
Hers is still in the closet. I did donate most of her clothing after she passed, but the floral scent of her perfume is still clinging to that coat, so it’s a keeper.
“Their name?” The white-haired host asks with a smile.
“Morgan. Berk Morgan,” I say loud enough that he can hear me over the voices of a group of men waiting for a table.
“Mr. Morgan arrived a short while ago.” His finger darts toward the left. “He’s seated at the bar. Your table will be ready momentarily.”
“Thank you.” I suck in a deep breath, steady my feet in my nude heels, and set off toward the bar.
Before I get very far, the crowd breaks, and I get my first view of Berk sitting on a leather barstool.
I stop to admire him because he’s breathtaking in a way that makes my heartbeat quicken. He’s wearing a dark blue suit, a white button-down shirt, and a light blue tie.
His hair is shorter than it was the other day, and he’s still sporting a growth of light beard on his face.
When he glances in my direction, our eyes meet, and that picture is pure perfection because a smile slowly slides over his lips.
“You’ve got this,” I whisper to myself. “It’s just sex. Don’t let your heart loose.”
I can’t fall for him.
I won’t fall for him.
We’ll have a nice dinner, and then he’ll take me to bed. Tomorrow this will all be a memory I’ll cherish forever.
I chant that silently as I step up my pace on my approach to where he is.
He glides to his feet, reaching out a hand as I step near him.
Before I know what’s happening, he’s got me wrapped in his strong arms, affording me the gift of a whiff of his cologne.
I could stay like this, in his embrace, all night, but he breaks it with two words. “You’re beautiful.”
I look up and into his blue eyes. “Thank you.”
Often, I’ll shy away from the compliments tossed my way by men because there’s no weight behind them.
I can tell by the way that Berk is looking at me that he genuinely thinks I’m beautiful.
“You look good too,” I say. “You cut your hair.”
He rakes a hand through his hair. “A professional worked their magic. I tried to handle that on my own once when I was ten, maybe eleven years old.”
I hold in a chuckle. “Was it bad?”
Smiling, he shakes his head. “So bad that my mom took a razor to my head.”
“Are you serious?”
“Dead serious.” He laughs. “Thankfully, it was in the middle of summer. I had some growth by the time school started.”
I stare at him, wondering what he was like at that age.
“Mr. Morgan?”
We both turn at the sound of a woman’s voice next to us. She’s wearing a dress that is similar to mine.
“Your table is ready, sir.” She smiles at Berk before she offers me a slight grin. “If you’ll follow me.”
I fall in step behind her. My breath catches on my third step when I feel Berk’s hand on the small of my back as he walks beside me.
When we reach the table, he rounds it to pull out my chair while I sit.
Once he’s seated too, he leans forward in his chair as the hostess explains that our server will be right with us. His eyes don’t leave mine, though.
It’s a random moment in time, but to me, it’s the start of a night that will be imprinted in my memory forever. This is a night that will fuel the lyrics to one of my future songs. I feel that with everything I am.