“Raphe,” she muttered, moving back around the table and pulling up the orders that had come in while they replayed the same conversation they’d had too many times to count. “Why are you here? It’s not to get back together. Don’t give me that bullshit.”
Arms dropping to his sides, he looked toward the exit and mumbled, “My cousin is getting married and I need a date.”
A fluttery smile crossed her lips, imagining that night with Ryder. So many clichés about bridesmaids being horny and indulging in one night, no-strings attached escapades? Imagine, if she’d given in to the date pressure and asked Raphe, and missed out on that night with Ryder? Disappointing, to say the least. “Ask Leah Thibodeaux. Didn’t you go out with her a few times, after we broke up?”
“She smells like ketchup.”
Zoe snorted a light laugh and shook her head.
Raphe’s lips lifted with a smile and studied her hopefully. “No pressure, no strings, just two friends who go to a wedding together.”
Tara appeared in the doorway and cleared her throat. “Need a hand in here?” She flashed Zoe an apologetic wince of a smile. “I have a few minutes, and Evan can watch things out front for me so I can help you get caught up… or escort your guest out?”
Raphe shrugged and backed up, the red eyes saying more than his jackass attitude had. “Please?”
She started to almost feel bad. “Raphe?”
“Yeah?”
“You didn’t dump me because I work long hours, or because I wasn’t ready to move in with you, and it wasn’t because I won’t wear perfume.” The ache throbbed in her gut, remembering. “Leah was suddenly back in town, and one look, and you remembered being with me would meansettling. That I wasn’t as pretty, as funny… as anything. I don’t want to be the person anyone settles for, and it took getting dumped for me to realize that.”
Raphe stuffed his hands deep in his pockets and dropped his gaze. “Okay, okay, you’re not wrong. She and I have history. Seeing her again, it… threw me. It took losing you, for me to realize, it doesn’t have to be perfect.”
“I’m still me.” And then she remembered how needy he’d been. Ugh, the drunken “I love you” call that she should have recognized as the huge red flag that it was. “I’m never going to be a ballerina. I’m not going to change my lifestyle or my interests to match yours.” Ugh, worse, the bad pick-up line texts when he was urgently horny. “And I am definitely not going to suddenly be at your beck and call whenever you need your dick yanked on.”
“Is that what you think?”
“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that you dumped me because you couldn’t mold me into meeting your expectations.”
Despite the knife gripped in her hand, Raphe swaggered slowly over and stopped close. He leaned down to nuzzle into her neck. “You always smell so good.”
Zoe stilled, drawn in as she remembered how good he smelled. How satisfying said booty calls had been, and the quiet breakfasts after.
“I was an idiot. You’re perfect just the way you are,” he said softly, stepping back.
“I don’t want to be perfect,” she whispered.
Evan leaned in the doorway. “Okay in here?”
“Raphe was just leaving.”
Raphe stepped away and turned back to her before reaching Evan, and the door. “One evening. No pressure. I miss you.”
Evan shifted to the side, granting Raphe a stiff shoulder to skim past on his way out. Giving it a minute, Evan watched the pub and finally turned back. “He wants to get back together?”
“You know I’m a sucker for dimples.” She exhaled long and slow and met her brother’s look. “And you know as well as I do, that the dating pool in Foothills isn’t getting any bigger. We did have good chemistry.”
Leaned against the doorframe, slowly crossing one foot over the other, Evan lazily glanced out at the restaurant before focusing on Zoe. “Does he know about Ryder?”
“Of course not. We broke up months ago, and one flyby since then is none of his business, even if we do get back together.”
“It’s your call, of course. But—don’t bite my head off—you were awfully smiley after one evening with Ryder, and I’m not sure I ever saw you so dreamy eyed over Raphe.”
“One night of fun merits a few days of smiling. It’s been two weeks, and the post-coital bliss has worn off.” She growled down at the sandwich in front of her. “Even if Ryder lived in town, as much fun as he was, I’d rather be with a hydrologist than a snooty marketing consultant anyway.”
“And I never thought I’d date a pro quarterback.” He backed up a step and shrugged meaningfully. “You never know until you give it a chance. Just call him.”
Zoe’s breath held tight in her chest until she was alone in her kitchen. Good thing Finn would be back from his honeymoon tomorrow, relieving Evan from bartender duty. Her oldest brother may be the bossiest of the bunch, but he wouldn’t have let Raphe get past him. The ache in her gut refused to ease. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and fired off a quick message.Send me the wedding details, and we’ll see.
