"Ready to order?" the waitress asks, interrupting us.

"Oh." Duke opens his menu as my phone beeps with a text. I put the phone onto my lap so I can read it discreetly. It’s Sebastian.

Get to the bar now!

My eyes flick up to see him glaring across the restaurant at me. He has got to be fucking joking.

Go to Hell!

A reply bounces back.

Okay, fine.

I'll come over to your table to see you.

Fuck!

This man is infuriating. I don't want poor Duke to think that Sebastian is the reason I don't want to see him anymore. I see Sebastian making his way to the bar. He picks up a menu, and then his furious eyes find mine, once more.

Christ on a cracker.

"What will it be?" The waitress smiles.

I fake a smile and open the menu. I couldn’t care less about this fucking food. First thing on the list, I choose. "Risotto, please." I snap the menu shut. "Thank you." She takes Dukes order and scribbles her notes, then wanders off.

I just want this night over with and get the hell out of here.

Ugh, men .... who dates these idiots for fun?

My phone vibrates on my lap, and I look over to Sebastian typing.

Oh my God, he cannot be serious?

My phone keeps vibrating on my lap.

Fuckk.

"I'm going to look at the cocktail special board." I fake a smile and stand.

"Already?” Duke frowns.

“Yep. What do you want?”

"Surprise me."

I casually walk over to the bar. Sebastian's eyes drop to my toes and back up to my face, and he raises his chin.

Well, bring it, asshole. I'm angrier than you.

I stand beside him at the bar and pick up a menu to pretend to read.

"What?" I whisper.

Sebastian's eyes stay fixed on the menu in front of him. "You're on a fucking date?"

My eyes shoot up to him. "Are you serious?"

"Deadly," he says through gritted teeth.

My eyes go back to my menu. "Listen here, you fucking asshole. " I smile sweetly. "I don't know what crack you're snorting, or who the fuck you think that you are—"

"What will it be?" the barman asks.

"Um." Sebastian and I quickly look at the specials choices. "Two dirty martinis, please." I smile.

"Make that four." Sebastian grimaces.

The bartender turns his back to us and gets to work.

"I'm so glad you think about me all day and dream about me all night," I whisper. "So, in your dreams, are we having a threesome with your fucking date?"

"You’re one to talk," he fumes. "You're actually dating him?"

"That's none of your business."

"It's all of my fucking business."

I can feel the adrenaline pumping through my body. Nobody pisses me off more than Sebastian Garcia.

I flick my hair over my shoulder. "Go back to your date, Sebastian."

"I'm here because my sister made me come."

"Ha! Don't insult my intelligence. You're here because she's beautiful and you’re going to have sex with her tonight."

"I'm not."

"Oh, yes, you fucking are."

"It was a blind date."

"Sure, it was." I grip the edge of the bar tightly.

"So, he's your boyfriend?" His eyes hold mine.

I look over to see Duke innocently scrolling through his phone. Damn it. Why can't Duke make me feel alive like this asshole does?

"I'm actually here to tell him I can't see him anymore. So, thank you for stressing me out before I even get the chance to do it."

"Why can't you see him anymore?"

I stare straight ahead, unwilling to answer.

"Is it because of me?"

"What?" I screw my face up. "You're delusional."

"Why, then?"

"Sebastian." I grit my teeth so I don't have a full temper tantrum. "I am not interested in talking to a man while he is on a date with another woman. Go back to her."

He looks around the restaurant. "Let's go."

"What?"

"Fuck this. Let's just leave. Neither of us want to be here with them. We have things we need to discuss."

I drag my hand down my face. "You would actually do that to her?"

"I would take her home first, of course. Let's do that." He glances at his watch. "Can we meet at, say, eleven?"

"What?"

"I have security with me."

I pretend to look at the menu.

"Near the door."

I look over and see two men in suits standing to the side of the entrance. "I saw them before."

"Once I'm home for the night, they leave me alone," he says. "You could come over to my place if you wanted to."

I stare at him, deadpan.

This man is a fucking idiot. "I have nothing to say to you other than you're a douche, and I feel sorry for your date."

He smiles softly as his eyes hold mine. "It's good to see you."

My heart somersaults in my chest.

Don't look at me like that.

"Don't, Seb," I whisper.

"April, we have things to talk about. You know we do. We need a clean slate before we go away next week."

"You're going to ruin everything. This job is really important to me, and I don't want to fuck it up. If Bart finds out about any of this—"

"He won't."

"Please, Sebastian, stop this. We have a past. That's it."

He stares at me.

"Just leave the past where it belongs, back there. I don’t want anything to do with you now. I’m not the same girl you knew back then."

He clenches his jaw as his eyes hold mine.

"Here you go." The bartender puts the four drinks onto the counter.

"Thank you," Sebastian says. "Put them on my bill." He picks up his drinks, and with one last lingering look, he says, "Goodbye, Bennet." He turns and walks back to his table, and my heart drops in disappointment.

So, that’s it? He's just giving up? Of course, he is.

I mean, I don’t want him, but it would have been nice if he fought a little harder.