A few minutes pass.One? Two? Ten?
Finally, the door opens, and the broad shoulders of a man filling a high-end suit to perfection enter my line of sight.
Our eyes connect, and my first impression is that he’s not in a good mood.
He probably just realized he was set up, and he abhors it as well.
“Scarlett?” he says in a neutral tone, like we’ve never shared a story.
“Ewan.”
I sound disappointed because I am.
“I’m sorry about this. Elisa set us up,” I say.
He closes the door, and doesn’t take another step toward me.
Instead, he leans against the door.
“She said we should talk,” he utters, not in a mood to chat.
“Yeah. She said a lot of things. Don’t mind her,” I say, making up my mind and walking to the door so I can exit the room, get lost, and never have to talk to them again.
He doesn’t move.
When I stop in front of him, he looks down for a moment, checking my dress and my shoes before he slides his hand to the small of my back, his nostrils flaring as he inhales the invisible drops of my perfume.
“What did she say to you?” he asks in a different voice while I sail an ocean of emotions.
My gaze drops away from his when he slides his forefinger under my chin and tilts it up.
“What did she say to you, Scarlet?”
My chin trembles against his touch.
“She told me your name. And she talked about her sister. She said you were born to be a father and a husband.”
A faint smile fleets through his eyes.
“She also said you’d sworn off women.”
His fingers dance across my jawline.
“It’s true.”
“She said Margot wouldn’t have liked you to do that.”
“Unfortunately, it wasn’t up to her. I did what I thought was best for me and my son.”
“So I was right to leave that night.”
He gives me a nostalgic look while my eyes melt into his.
I always got to know Ewan, the wild man with a glint of craziness in his eye, yet this is a different man.
Brewing a storm behind a mask of coolness.
Growing a glacier in his chest.