Chapter 7 Kieran was tall and lean, elegant but distant. He looked exactly like I remembered, just with sharper features and a colder expression. "It really is you!" I couldn't hide my surprise. "How did you end up having to resort to-" "Aurelia!" Thalia came running over from across the restaurant, positioning herself between me and Dashiell. Her voice had this smug edge to it: "Dashiell was just telling me about you! He said being with you was just physical attraction, and the only good memories he has are of... you know..." Thalia's face turned red, like she was embarrassed: "Just the bedroom stuff. He can't really remember anything else meaningful..." "But I still think girls should have more self-respect. Trying to keep a man through sex never works out..." "Though it's fine, like Dashiell said, it's normal for men to have someone on the side before they settle down-especially when it's free. So when he mentioned you might join us for dinner, I was a little jealous at first, but after he explained it like that, I guess it's whatever." I saw right through her fake innocence and just smiled, raising an eyebrow at Dashiell: "What do you have to say about that?" But Dashiell was just standing there, completely ignoring our conversation. His face was dark as he stared at Kieran for a long moment before asking: "Yo, who the hell are you?" Kieran's expression didn't change-completely unreadable. He made a soft "Hmm?" sound, then took my hand without any emotion and held it up in front of Dashiell: "What do you think?" His grip was tight, like he was afraid I might pull away. I knew he was helping me out, so I squeezed back. Kieran's body tensed for a second. Then he casually waved his other hand in front of Dashiell's face with a polite smile: "Excuse us. Our food's ready." It had been so long since I'd seen Kieran, and his personality seemed completely different. He talked about everything-his company going public, his housekeeper's cooking preferences, you name it. I nodded along while eating, wondering... were we really close enough for all this small talk? 16:24 Dear Hubby, Your Biggest Mistake? Thinking I'd Beg Instead of Burn 19.1% hapter 7 After college, I looked for you." Kieran cut a piece of steak and put it on my plate. "You were dating someone." took it. "Oh, thanks." le leaned back in his chair, drumming his fingers on the table. That's all I wanted to say. Don't you have anything to tell me? Or ask me?" felt a little awkward and put my fork down. Um... I'm actually pretty full. I didn't touch most of this-do you want it?" 105