Mr. Big(46)

Logan was mumbling about having to wait when they had reservations and Mia wished that there was somewhere that she could hide, some way to vanish, some way to hide the pain she felt in her heart from showing on her face, but there was no way. Alexander turned then and looked at her and she saw several emotions cross his face.

He looked subtly surprised for a moment, and then hurt, and following that, he looked curious and then annoyed as his eyes moved to Logan who was standing silently beside Mia, still clutching her hand while he looked around the restaurant.

Mia sighed. There was no one else waiting for a table, only the four of them, and they were in such small quarters that there was no way to ignore one another and avoid having to say hello.

She nodded at him and took a few steps toward him. “Hello Alexander,” she said quietly.

“Good evening,” he replied in a monotone voice.

Sighing softly, she indicated Logan. “Alexander, this is Logan Parker. Logan, this is Alexander Daniels.”

Logan looked surprised that she knew anyone there and he smiled and reached his hand out to Alexander. Alexander seemed to give it a snug squeeze before he let it go. He turned to the beautiful woman at his side and smiled at her.

“Emily, this is Mia James and Logan Parker. Logan, Mia, this is Emily Hawthorne.” Emily reached her hand out to shake Mia’s hand, and Mia felt like her heart was going to break right in two at having to shake the hand of the woman that Alexander had taken to the restaurant where he had promised to take her. Somehow, Mia made it through the woman’s gentle handshake, and they smiled at one another.

The maître d’ arrived and nodded to Alexander and Emily. “Right this way,” he said with a smile, and Alexander and Emily nodded at them, while Emily wished them a nice evening and Alexander did the same, his eyes lingering on both Logan and Mia before he turned and walked away.

Mia wanted to turn and run from the restaurant. She wanted to bolt from it as far and as fast as she possibly could, but there was no escape, the damage was already done. It couldn’t get worse from that point.

“How do you know him?” Logan asked curiously as they waited to be seated.

She felt her heart catch in her chest and she tried to act nonchalant. “Oh, he’s a business associate,” she said offhandedly. It was another half-truth. She had worked in his office for one day.

Logan nodded and his attention turned to looking around the restaurant once more. The maître d’ returned and they were seated a few minutes later. She cringed inwardly when she saw that they were seated not far from Alexander and Emily. They were far enough away that there would be no way to overhear conversations, but they were close enough that there was no way not to see them as they dined.

Logan noticed where they were as well and he raised his hand and waved, and Alexander and Emily both nodded back. Logan sat down and looked thoughtful.

“Would you like me to invite them over to dine with us?” he asked, looking up at her.

Mia felt like an earthquake had struck her inside as panic shot through her. “Oh, no… they’re obviously on a date. Let’s let them have their evening and we’ll keep ours to ourselves as well.” She took a long slow breath and tried to still the adrenaline that had shot through her with lightning speed.

They ordered wine and dinner and Mia did her best not to look up at Alexander, but it was unavoidable, and she found herself glancing in his direction more times than she wished to. She was surprised to realize that several of those times, he was looking back at her, though his expression was completely unreadable.

Logan talked on and on about small inane subjects, and she tried to listen and agree now and then, but her mind and her attention were almost entirely focused on the man sitting not too far from her; the man whose eyes continued to peer into her as if there was nothing in her that he could not see.

She wondered at his uncanny ability to look at her that way and she remembered that he had looked at her like that right from the first moment that he had met her. She wished it away to no avail. No matter how subtle she tried to be, she could not hide the fact that her eyes were like a magnet to him, and the more she saw him looking at her, the more she wanted to go to him and explain what had happened, to tell him that she was sorry for everything, and that it had all changed as she had gotten to know him, but there was nothing but space and silence between them, and intense eye contact again and again.

Mia tried her best to focus on dinner and Logan, though it was a considerable struggle for her. As they were finishing their meal, she glanced up at Alexander again, and the intense look in his eyes completely undid her nerve. She wasn’t able to take it any longer.