Chapter 28 #2
Only Grace still seems skeptical. "So, you met him for one evening—"
"One entire night—" I correct her.
"One entire night, but you didn’t sleep with him?”
"I didn’t."
"And you never forgot about him?" There’s disbelief in her tone.
“It’s not always about the sex.” Zoey turns on her before I can say anything. “There’s something about being so in tune with another person that everything falls into rhythm.”
Grace scoffs.
“Sure, but what if it turns out that the chemistry was overrated? And when you fuck him, it’s anticlimactic?”
I chuckle. “There’s no fear of that happening. When we kissed that night…it…felt like”—I try to choose the right words—“like we were fusing together, stepping into each other’s skin. That we were as close to being one person as we could possibly be without actually having sex.”
There’s silence as the three of them stare at me.
“That was beautiful. But uh, TMI for me, considering it’s my brother you’re talking about.” Phe winces.
Zoey’s expression is surprised but filled with a good dose of yearning. “That sounds…like something that comes along once in a lifetime. I'm not surprised you waited for him.”
“Did you wait for him?” Grace’s eyebrows draw down.
I wriggle around trying to find a more comfortable position.
“Not consciously. He left on deployment the day after I met him. The next thing I know, Phe tells me he’s left the Marines.
Once he opened his restaurant and won the Michelin stars, it was inevitable I'd hear more about what he’d been up to.
But the next time I saw him was when I walked into his restaurant for an interview. "
“He never contacted you in the time between?”
I shake my head. “I tried my best to move on from him. I went on dates… When I managed to get time off from work, that is."
“But you never slept with anyone else?”
I purse my lips.
Her jaw drops. “You really haven’t slept with anyone else since you met him, have you? You’ve been holding out for him.”
I redden. “Not for lack of trying. I even tried to have a one-night stand. But I backed out at the last moment.”
Zoey puts her arm around me. “You don’t have to apologize. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.” She frowns at Grace. “Stop interrogating her.”
“I can’t help it. I'm an investigative journalist,” Grace begins, but Zoey cuts her off.
“No really. Just cut it out.”
Grace sighs. “I didn’t mean to upset you, Harper—”
“You didn’t. I tried to move on. I told myself that the hours I spent with him shouldn’t count for much. If I’d found anyone with half the kind of connection I felt to him, I’d have slept with him.”
But I hadn’t.
Which is why I’m still a virgin.
I wince, even as I think that to myself. I don’t have the courage to say it aloud. I’ll never hear the end of it from Grace if I do.
"So now, you work for him. And the two of you took up where you left off?" Grace asks as if she’s unable to stop herself.
"We had unresolved stuff. Enough that we clashed a lot. We still do. We both have our own opinions of how things should be done in the kitchen."
"It’s their version of foreplay." Phe grins.
"You could say that." It’s not far from the truth.
The waitstaff bring me my margarita. I thank them and take a couple of fortifying sips. It goes down smoothly.
"I’m glad my brother moved fast and asked you to marry him." Phe leans over and hugs me.
I hug her back.
When I glance at Zoey, she’s smiling. She’s convinced about the veracity of this wedding.
"I saw the way my brother looked at you that day. I’ve never seen him look like that at another woman. He really does love you." Phe sniffs.
"What about an engagement ring?" Grace looks at me closely.
I anticipated this question. "Things happened so quickly…” I shrug. “I’m sure he’ll get me one.” I think.
I’ve wondered about it, but then, I’ve been so busy with my job, I haven’t had time to dwell on it.
Her forehead furrows.
"It’s not a big thing, Grace.” I squeeze her arm. “It’s more important for me that I’m marrying the only man I’ve ever wanted. I never forgot him. And the moment I walked into that kitchen, everything changed."
All of that is true.
She looks at me. Really looks at me. Whatever she sees on my face makes her features soften.
She seems to have accepted the story.
"Will you have time to find a dress?" Zoey asks worriedly.
"He arranged for me to have a fitting at Karma West Sovrano’s atelier," I confess.
I managed to take a couple of hours off yesterday in between services. In his gruff way, James had mentioned to me that he had connection. The designer’s wedding collection is legendary and the dress I found is perfect.
Zoey’s jaw drops. "You’re getting a Karma West Sovrano wedding dress?"
Grace seems reluctantly impressed. She raises her glass. “To Harper and her Ice Commander. May you find true happiness."
"To Harper and James." Zoey clinks her glass with mine.
"To Harper and my brother, who has no idea what’s about to hit him." Phe laughs delightedly.
"If he hurts you in anyway, he’ll have me to contend with." Grace’s eyes turn steely.
“If he breaks your heart, we know where he works." Zoey waves to the waitstaff to get us another round of drinks.
"He may be my brother, but I’m on your side, bish." Phe’s expression is serious.
Damn, I love my friends.
"You guys are amazing." I blink away tears.
And now, I feel even more terrible that I can’t tell them the real reason I’m getting married.
"I hope you’re all coming to the wedding at Islington Town Hall." I glance around the table.
"Is that even a question? Of course, we’ll be there." Zoey has a you've-gotta-be-kidding-me expression on her face.
Phe smiles. “I wouldn’t miss it for anything."
The waitstaff bring us our drinks.
"Ooh, I don’t think I should." I glance at the margarita longingly, but I’m already feeling a bit tipsy.
Phe slides the glass in my direction. "You absolutely should."