An Unexpected Attraction

She slipped a morsel of cubed flatbread into her mouth, concentrating on the task and the flavor of the caramelized mushrooms. Anything but look across the table at him and the way his mouth closed over the glass.

“How is your sister?” he asked.

Her sister Tracey would start her last year of college in the fall. “She’s fine. We spoke last week. Her studies are coming along well.”

“What’s her major again?”

“Computer information systems.”

“Ah yes. Good for her.” He twirled the glass on the table.

For a long time, neither said a word. Her gaze flitted over the rest of the diners seated at the small tables and the curved, wooden tasting bar. Mostly couples, but there were also small groups of friends, and from the private room a bachelorette party’s cheering and clapping could be heard.

“I’m sorry,” Jay said.

Her attention came back to him. She almost missed the quiet apology. Her heart constricted a little, saddened they’d come to this point. “I’m sorry, too. I overreacted.”

“You didn’t overreact.” He made the statement in a matter-of-fact way and then drank some wine. He set the glass carefully on the table but his eyes remained trained on it. He frowned, as if searching the depths for the answer to a question. “You seeing anyone?” Now, he studied her with the same intensity he had the wine.

“Uh…n-no, I’m not,” she stuttered. The change in topic threw her. “Not right now.”

“No broken hearts left behind in Chicago?”

“Plural? No way?” She laughed, albeit uneasily. Conversations like this, particularly with Jay of all people, always made her uneasy. “There was someone, but he doesn’t have a broken heart, I assure you. We cut ties when I left. It wasn’t very serious.” She picked up a kernel of corn from the bowl in the center of the table and slipped it into her mouth. Jay hadn’t eaten anything since they sat down.

“Not serious for you.” Not even the hint of a smile was on his face, attentive eyes capturing every word and every movement.

“Not for either of us.” She wanted to change the subject and avoided his eyes, focusing on a still life painting of wine bottles and grapes on the wall. When she swung her gaze back to Jay, he was staring at her. “What?” she asked sharply.

“Nothing. Just thinking.”

“About what?”

“The past.”

He looked at her in a way he never had before, or rather in a way she hadn’t seen in a very long time. Her chest felt heavy and she swallowed hard.

“What are you thinking about the past?” A dangerous question, and yet she still asked.

He traced a finger around the rim of his glass. The movement reminded her of an intimate caress, the warm stroke of a lover’s fingertip over heated skin.

“Thinking about when Nick introduced you to us he was probably halfway in love with you by then. Ti ricordi?”

She looked down at the table, embarrassed.

“Yes, I remember,” she answered. “Except for the part about Nick being halfway in love with me.”

“You like to pretend it’s not true, but he did have feelings for you. Still does.” His voice had dropped lower, almost hypnotizing in its monotony.

Shrugging, she broke eye contact. The line of conversation about Nick made her uncomfortable.

“Did you know he talked about you a lot before he introduced you to us? He mentioned this beautiful woman he wanted us to meet.”

She didn’t know this little bit of information. Nick had approached her in a cafe. She’d been eating lunch alone while reviewing notes for a class, and he’d walked up and introduced himself. She’d shot him down right away, but eventually they exchanged numbers when he convinced her all he wanted was friendship.

“I don’t understand why we’re talking about this.” Brenda rubbed the back of her neck, wishing she hadn’t inquired about his thoughts after all.

Jay stopped tracing the rim of the glass. “Then I met you. The night we met, Jenna was with me. Ti ricordi?”

“Of course I remember. It was really cold that night. I almost canceled but changed my mind because I’d promised Nick I’d go.” They’d met at a popular jazz and blues lounge in Marietta.

“You wore a black sweater dress, knee-high, black leather boots, and a red scarf. Three inch heels. Big dangly gold earrings with diamond accents. A gold ring on the middle finger of your right hand with the design of a rose on it. Pink nail polish. Red lipstick. Your hair was a little longer then, and you had pulled it back from your face.”

Brenda swallowed at the amount of detail he recounted.

A bittersweet smile lined his mouth. “I can’t remember what I wore that night. I can’t remember what Jenna wore. But I remember every detail of your outfit. I remember what your mouth looked like, your eyes, and especially your smile. I even remember the way you smelled. And I remember thinking…” His voice became quieter, husky. She waited, breathing suspended. “Thinking…that I wish I’d met you first.”