Page 61 of Cocky Cruiser

The restaurant sat on the water, and had both indoor and outdoor seating. The interior was decorated with sea turtle sculptures, mosaics, and paintings. A mural of a coral reef teeming with marine life completely covered one wall. “The artwork is beautiful here.”

“Someone really likes sea turtles,” Aubrey commented with a chuckle.

I smiled. After we were seated, I looked around, and my gaze passed over someone, making my breath catch. I had to do a double take because they couldn’t possibly be who I’d thought I saw.

There’s no way.

The man was at the other end of the restaurant, so I could’ve been mistaken, but he looked just like Cohen. So many people were milling around, and I couldn’t get a good look before the man disappeared down a hallway.

You’re hallucinating, Adele. Cohen lives in Vegas and wants nothing to do with you. Why would he be here?

I pushed the foolish thoughts aside, but I couldn’t suppress the urge to go after the man.

Don’t do it, don’t do it, don’t do it.

“I need to use the ladies’ room. I’ll be right back,” I announced before excusing myself.

I headed for the corridor the man had gone down moments before. The restrooms were located on each side of the hall and a double doorway into the kitchen was at the end.

I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t go in the mens’ room or the kitchen, so my options were to awkwardly stand there, go in the ladies’ room, or go back to my table.

What a great plan, Adele.

Before I could decide, the man came out of the kitchen, and my heart stopped.

Cohen.

He looked as handsome as ever. He’d grown his beard out a bit, giving him a more rugged appearance. He blinked a few times in shock as he came to an abrupt stop in front of me. “Adele?”

A lump formed in my throat, and butterflies swarmed my stomach. He had me feeling like a silly girl with a crush all over again, and I had to remind myself what he’d done to me so I wouldn’t go flinging myself into his arms. “What are you doing here, Cohen?”

Clearing his throat, he rubbed the back of his neck. “I wanted to surprise you.”

My brows furrowed, and I balled my fists. “Surprise me? What do you mean? Why would you want to surprise me? You left me with nothing but a note, and I haven’t heard from you since.”

Looking down, he had guilt etched all over his handsome face. “This isn’t the way I wanted to tell you this, but here goes.” He brought his eyes back up to mine and took a couple of steps toward me. “I made a mistake leaving you, the biggest mistake of my life, and I was a complete asshole.”

I scoffed, crossing my arms over my chest. “You got that right.”

A smirk played at the corner of his lips. “So, I decided to take a leap of faith and bought this restaurant.”

My jaw dropped. “This is your restaurant?”

He smiled. “Yes. I also bought a house not too far from here.”

My mouth was still open. I was completely speechless. I couldn’t process everything Cohen was telling me so I dumbly stammered, “What? Why?”

He laughed, and the sound made my stomach flip-flop. “For you. I wanted to prove to you that I was serious in hopes you’d give me a second chance.”

“So you completely uprooted your life and moved here?”

He nodded, giving me a sheepish smile. “Yeah. I did.”

My mind was going a mile a minute. I didn’t know what to think. “I haven’t seen or heard from you in months, and you decided this was your best course of action? What if I didn’t want to see you?”

Cohen took another step closer. “Well, do you?”

My heart was hammering. I was so taken off guard and didn’t know what to make of the situation. “What?”

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