Page 2 of Monsters, Vows, and Growls
Right, Ella, which is exactly why you haven’t given another man the time of the day,my inner bitch chimed in, and I told her to take a walk.
In those ten years, I managed to build a life for myself. A successful life. I owned two restaurants outright.Salt & Flamewas the first, and three years ago, I addedAsh & Velvet. I’ve kept busy creating just the right menus, training my staff to meet my vision standards, and now, if everything worked out, I was about to open a third. In Cedar Hollow, no less, an exclusive new neighborhood just for shifters. Which probably explained why I dreamed of Pat last night. He was a bear shifter, and my mind must have drawn the connection.
Right, that’s it.
Oh, shut up already.
There, the numbers just jumped from one fifty-nine to two. He was late.
Just then, I felt a strange prickling sensation in the nape of my neck, felt heat rise from inside my belly, spreading through everypart of me like a hot flash. The hand holding my phone began to tremble. What the hell? I wasn’t seriously going to have an anxiety attack over a business meeting, was I? One that my best friend Carol set up?
I looked up from my phone—and the breath caught in my throat. My eyes widened. That couldn’t be.No way.He couldn’t be standing there like Beetlejuice just because I thought his name three times, right?
I blinked. He was still there, staring at me with a look that mirrored the shock twisting in my gut. The heat drained from my body, replaced by a hollow ache. The same kind that had slammed into me ten years ago, the night I finally accepted he’d meant it—he didn’t want me in his life.
God. I felt it all over again. Choking my throat, strangling me. I didn’t even notice the tear welling until it slid down my face; I impatiently wiped at it and stood up, fanning the flames of anger that flared inside me. He didn’t have any right to make me feel this way any longer. None! We were both adults now. Adults with our own lives. Well, at least I had one, and I assumed he did, too, standing there in an expensive business suit. I mentally rambled until my fight-or-flight instinct kicked in and decided on flight. Forget about the business meeting, he was late anyway. I grabbed my stuff, set on making a beeline out of the bistro. But before I was able to make a clean escape, he positioned himself right in front of me.
"Hi, Ella?"
It wasn't really a question of whether it was really me; it sounded more as if he was hoping I had miraculously sprouted a twin sister.
"Uhm, hey, Pat—rick." I gulped out, refusing to call him by the nickname I gave him so many years ago, hoping it would help my stupid heart distinguish between now and then. It didn't seem to work, though, because the traitorous organ was beating pretty heavily in my chest.
His eyes softened, and a flicker of pain crossed his features before he schooled them into a neutral expression. "It's been a long time," he said.
I nodded, not trusting my voice. Ten years, and yet standing here in front of him, it felt like no time had passed at all. The same magnetic pull was there; the same electric charge sizzled in the air between us. I shook my head, trying to clear the memories that threatened to overwhelm me.
"What are you doing here?" I managed to ask, my voice sounding strained even to my own ears.
He ran a hand through his hair, a gesture so familiar it made my chest ache. "I'm here for a business meeting. Carol set it up."
My eyes widened. Carol. Of course.
"Carol," I heard myself echo, and watched the same realization that was shooting through me reflect in his expression. She set this up. Setusup. I felt a sudden flash of betrayal, followed by a wave of confusion. Why would she do this? Why now, after all these years?
"Ella, I... I didn't know you'd be here. If I had..." He trailed off, and I felt a sudden surge of anger. If he had, then what? He would have avoided me? Pretended I didn't exist, like he had for the past decade? I straightened my spine, lifting my chin defiantly.
"Well, I'm here. And apparently, we have a meeting to attend." I thanked my inner strength for making me sound far more confident than I felt. I gestured towards the table where I had sat waiting a few short minutes ago.
Patrick hesitated, looking like he wanted to say something more, but then he nodded. "After you," he agreed in a tight voice.
I brushed past him, ignoring the way my skin tingled at the brief contact, and retook my seat. He waited until I was settled before he sat down across from me, his large frame making the bistro chair look impossibly small.
For a moment, we just stared at each other, a decade's worth of unspoken words hung heavily in the air between us. I tried to reconcile the man in front of me with the boy I had loved so fiercely, so completely, all those years ago. He was different now—broader, more imposing, with a gravitas that spoke of hard-earned life lessons. But his eyes, those whiskey-colored eyes that had always seen straight into my soul, they were the same.
"So," I began, needing to break the suffocating silence, "Carol mentioned you were looking to open a restaurant in Cedar Hollow." Once again, I was thankful that at least my voice didn't suffer from sitting across from Patrick. It was, however, the only part of me that didn't tremble.
Patrick nodded, seeming grateful to keep this all business.
"Yes, it's ready, too. Mostly. It's just waiting for the right owner," he said, keeping his eyes trained on me.
Ten years ago, I had gotten lost in those eyes. I don't think I ever found myself again. I had reinvented myself, become a successful businesswoman, but the girl who loved this man solong ago had never truly moved on. As I stared at him now, it felt like I was still trapped in there, unable to come out.
I wanted to scream at him: Why? How could you do this to me? To us? That question had been driving me crazy for years. Why? Not getting an answer for it had doubled my OCD. But I had my pride, too, and I wouldnotbeg this man now, ten years later, for an answer. I would not!
This was a business deal, plain and simple. To be honest, every chef in this city was clambering to get a spot in Cedar Hollow. Not because of the money. No, this was strictly a matter of prestige. Being able to brag that I had a restaurant in Cedar Hollow would triple my credibility in every food magazine that still tried to pretend that monsters didn’t eat foie gras. It wasn’t about profit—although that too would triple from the other restaurants—it was about the bragging rights that came with it. I had fought tooth and nail to get where I was, to prove that a human chef could cater to the supernatural palate just as well, if not better, than any shifter or vampire chef out there. This was my chance to solidify my reputation once and for all.
I took a deep breath, pushing down the swirl of emotions threatening to overwhelm me, and focused on the task at hand. "Tell me more about your vision for the restaurant. What kind of cuisine are you looking for? What atmosphere do you want to create?"
