Natasha ~ Present
I WHIPPED MY HEAD AROUND, no longer hearing what Kalvin, my client, was saying, as soon as I heard Jericho’s name.
It can’t be, I assured myself. Jericho hadn’t stepped foot into Three Sister’s ever, there’s no way he’d be there now.
Except, he was.
I nearly choked when I saw his long frame turning away from me to focus on the woman who’d called him. It was him all right, tall, dark, sinfully good-looking, him.
He was already dressed for work, even though it was breakfast time and his restaurant didn’t open for another few hours. I noticed his hair looked perfectly tousled, and he was carrying one of our to-go cups.
I leaned to the side to get a better look, catching myself right before I toppled out of my chair.
“Hello, Mrs. Milstead, how are you?” Jericho was saying to the older woman who’d called out to him.
There was nothing covert about the way I was watching him. I was openly staring, gawking if you will, but luckily, he hadn’t noticed. I was too shocked to be aware of what I was doing, or to really hear what they were saying, until, like a foghorn, I heard, “Are you ready to stop playing coy and let me set you up with my Belinda? I just know you two sweethearts will get along smashingly.”
I must have gasped out loud, because Jericho’s head swung my way.
I turned back in my seat so fast I almost got whiplash, and could feel the surface of my skin turning red with embarrassment. I hoped he hadn’t seen me staring, even though I knew without a doubt that he had.
“Are you okay?” Kalvin asked, eyeing me with a knowing grin.
Kalvin and his fiancé, Malia, had hired us to cater their engagement dinner, and since Malia was currently away on business, Kalvin had been working with me to give them the engagement party of her dreams.
“Uh, yeah, sorry, what were you saying?” I asked, but Jericho was responding, rather loudly, and I tuned in to what he was saying.
“You know what, Mrs. Milstead, yes, I would love to take your daughter out. Why don’t you give me her number and I’ll set something up?”
My heart crumbled and I felt pain and anger radiating through me.
Did I have any right to be jealous? Obviously not . . .
Did I expect Jericho to be celibate since I’d left him? Ha, just the thought is laughable . . . Jericho is an extremely sexual man.
Does that mean it hurt any less to hear him making plans to go on a date with someone else, in my own place of business, no less? Nope, it hurt like a bitch.
Because, even if he hadn’t been celibate, I had, and even if I didn’t have a claim on him anymore, or the right to be jealous, I still was. Very much so. And although it didn’t make sense, and my actions would lead people to believe otherwise, I was still in love with Jericho, and had a feeling I always would be.
What we had was that all-consuming love. The kind where no one else ever measured up, and I knew I’d never be as happy with anyone, as I’d been with him. But, it was also the kind that took over your life, your heart, your mind, and didn’t leave room for anything else.
The destructive kind.
Which was why I stayed firmly facing Kalvin, unwilling to turn again and see if Jericho was watching me for a reaction
When I head the door jingle, signaling it had opened, Kalvin said, “He’s gone,” and I remembered how to breathe again.
“I’m sorry, Kalvin, could you excuse me for a moment?” I asked.
“Take all the time you need,” he replied gently, and I felt the prick at the back of my eyes and knew the dam was about to break.
I’d barely closed the office door behind me before I lost it. Silent sobs choked me as tears ran down my face.
“So stupid, Tasha,” I chastised myself. “Just forget about him . . .”
Even as I urged myself, I knew it was impossible, especially now with Millie and Jackson getting married, and Jericho and Jackson being friends.
I needed to get over this, get over him, once and for all.
He’d obviously moved on, and it was time for me to do so as well.
I took a few deep breaths, wiped my face, and freshened up my makeup. While I reapplied my lipstick, I promised myself that I was done being a coward. I’d go and see Jericho and clear the air between us once and for all.
Then, hopefully, I’d have the closure I needed to move on.
Decision made, I went back out to finish my meeting with Kalvin with the intention of having dinner at Prime Beef.
I’d never been there before, and I heard the steak sandwich with chimichurri was divine.
“I’m so sorry about that, Kalvin,” I said as I took my seat across from him.
“No problem,” Kalvin assured me. “Did I ever tell you how Malia and I met?”
I shook my head and forced a small smile.
“We were both on dates with other people,” he began, and I pushed all thoughts of my own romantic woes to the side to focus on Kalvin and Malia’s happily ever after.