Page 22 of Love or Leave

You.

He immediately killed the thought and gave his head a shake, reminding himself that the night wasnota get-to-know-you type of situation. She was only there to stop him from looking so pathetic in front of everyone he knew. He wasn't supposed to want to know about her.

He forced himself to focus on the goal of the evening—Fran.

"Sure," he said as they crossed the parking lot toward his car. "What do you want to know?"

"What's your ex-wife's name?"

"Francesca," he said, unlocking the car and opening the door for her. "Goes by Fran."

"How long ago did you break up?"

"I left in February. Valentines Day, actually."

Cara's eyes went wide as she sat in the car. "You ended your marriage on Valentine’s Day?"

"Sheended our marriage on Valentine's Day," he said, then closed the door and walked around to the driver's side.

"Why?" Cara asked once he was sitting down.

Antonio looked over at Cara before putting the car in drive and exiting the parking lot. "You ask a lot of questions."

"And you are very selective about which ones you answer."

He frowned as he drove down the street, but he didn't respond.

"Is anyone going to hate me or yell at me or call me a home-wrecking whore?" she asked.

He chuckled. "That's what you're worried about?"

Cara nodded.

"No," he said. "I'm sure it's going to be awkward, and my mother won't be happy about any of it, but no one will hate you and they certainly won't yell."

Cara took her bracelet in her hand and began fidgeting again. "Maybe we should have a code word, in case things get to be too much."

Antonio smiled. "Okay," he said. "How about freezing?"

"Perfect," Cara said, sagging a little in relief. "Easy enough to use in a sentence but doesn't come up too often to be confused with regular conversation and has multiple synonyms to avoid using it if you have to."

Antonio nodded, happy that she seemed more relaxed. He was pretty sure her anxiety was more about the unknown and not having a plan rather than just your basic fear of crowds.

"Good," he said. His guilt about taking her along receded. "You say freezing, and I'll pretend like I have a call from the hospital."

Cara gave him a smile as her shoulders relaxed. He was glad she was feeling better about this, but as they got closer to the club, all the anxiety that had drained from her began filling him.

The familiar warmth and scents greeted Antonio as he walked through the doors with Cara and into the large centre atrium of La Tavola Club. His grandparents had been members of the club ever since they'd immigrated to Canada, and he'd been going there since he was born.

So had Fran.

In fact, they'd first met there when they were five years old at a Christmas party, while standing in line to meet Santa. They'd had their first kiss in the coat check after graduation when they were thirteen.

And their extravagant wedding reception was held in the enormous ballroom down the hall ten years ago.

He forced his brain to stop dwelling on the past and walked in step with Cara across the polished marble floor toward the coat check at the smaller reception room, thankful that at least the party wasn’t in the same space as his wedding.

"It's just through there," he said, nodding toward the open doors, where he could already see his aunts gathered at a table. "I'll take your coat."

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