Nuri: Anyway, I have good news!
Nuri: I can come by next week-end. Kids and husband away, just me, you, and Jack for forty eight hours.
Prudence: Awesome, I’m in! I’ll tell Jack.
Nuri: Can’t wait.
Nuri: Oh, and if Jack and that cute Ikram guy get together, he’s welcome to join.
Nuri: Also, your new friend Evie.
Nuri: And we can’t forget Nate.
Prudence: No, please, not Nate.
Nuri: It will be just like in college when we were going to the bar and you couldn’t drink, except this time you can!
PRUDENCE
I stare at my wrist—or the red paper band circling it—with a frown. This plan is dumb. And we can kiss goodbye to our cocktail discount. How is everyone not wearing green? Even the couples? Just pretend you’re single for the cheap booze, for fuck sake!
“We should go to the table and wait for the waitress to take our orderthere,” I groan when my fourth attempt to catch the barman’s attention fails.
“They probably already have their drinks, so the waitresses won’t go over there for a while.”
I sigh, turning my head so I can look everywhere but at him.
I can still feel his gaze on me, and I’m overwhelmed by the intensity of it.
I’m upset. I don’t know if it’s because of him and how he acted at the precinct, or at me because his plan is actually not too bad. Even though I keep telling myself it’s dumb.It is.Definitely. Dumb, but he has a point. I don’t want Raph to talk to me. And I don’t want to be on his wife’s—ex-wife or whatever, let’s just call her by her name,Meredith’s—radar. Especially if I’m going to see her at work. There’s no way I’m going to let this guy ruin my work because he can’t understand how uncomfortable it is for me. I already hate having to work with him, let’s not add a jealous Meredith to the mix.
“They’re here,” he whispers in my ear, leaning closer, invading my space.
His breath is warm against my neck, and I close my eyes as the goosebumps spread from my ear to my hand. My head spins a little and I realize I’ve been holding my breath. I gasp, allowing my lungs to inhale sharply, and I fight the urge to stop breathing again when my mind is transported back to that first time he came into my room to pose for me, and wiped graphite off my nose with his tee-shirt.
The same perfume. The same one I smelled on his sweater at the restaurant as well. The same that clings to him and even the inside of his car.
Oh god, does this man smell good. A mixture of soap and wood, with a hint of the ocean in the morning. And I realize I’ve been holding my breath every time he’s near. Why? I’m not sure. But it takes me back to that day, his shirt rubbing on my nose and his scent overwhelming me.
“Prue, are you all right?”
Our gaze finally meets and I’m surprised to see concern darkening his azur eyes.
“What?”
“Are you alright? You’re breathing all… Wrong. Are you panicking?”
My eyes widen.Real smooth, Prue. Can’t even breathe like a normal human being.
“I’m fine! Sorry, I—”
“No apologies.”
“Right,” I roll my eyes. “What is your pro—”
“Hey guys! It’s good to see you again,” Matthew interrupts me, placing his hand on Nate’s shoulder. “It’s packed tonight, I was afraid you guys would go somewhere else.”
Nate turns to face him with a tight smile, and I take them all in. Matthew is here, holding a kind looking blond woman’s hand. Three other detectives are right behind him—Jacinda, Oliver and… Was it Tom?—with a couple of people I’ve never seen—maybe the other sketch artists—and finally Raph andMeredith.
