The Fall by Kate Stewart Read Free Book Online Page B

here,” he answered quickly. He started the car and turned to me, a smile playing on his lips. “I dug this out of thin air and thought you might like it.”
    I heard the music start to play and laughed out loud. It was Dean Martin’s greatest hits. I had given it to him as a birthday present in college. He forced me to listen to it every time we were together.
    “ Ain’t that a kick in the head ,” I sang along as he pulled up to Chantilly and I laughed at his choice of restaurants. We were definitely going old school tonight. It was the location of the first date of my parents and was a Dallas landmark, having been open for over forty-five years. We walked inside and I quickly surveyed to see if my parents table was available. I requested it on sight immediately and reveled in the fact that it was ours. My parents had taken Rose and me here a few times when we were kids when they were unable to find a sitter on special anniversaries. We were usually grounded by the time we left and they would swear never to take us again.
    “My parents had their first date right here at this table,” I remarked as we took our seats.
    “Really?” he asked with a smile. “How are they?” The hostess seating us completely covered Dean in her stare. It was so blatant that I almost felt uncomfortable for him. He simply gave her a wink as he turned his attention to me.
    “Terrific. We should have dinner with them soon. They always loved you. You can bring your fiancée,” I added, reminding myself that this was a dinner date between old friends. But we weren’t friends. We hadn’t spoken in years. Our relationship ended in heartbreak. Morbid curiosity is what made me decide to dine with Dean tonight.
    I saw him visibly cringe at the mention of his fiancée then recover. “Sounds good to me. How is Rose?”
    “She’s perfect. She is on her last semester of school and is kicking ass. She is going for a surgical fellowship. I am so proud of her.”
    “And you are still going to open your own practice?” he asked as he glanced at the drink menu.
    “Yep, everything is falling into place. Three years and it will be a reality,” I said excitedly as we were greeted by our waitress.
    “That’s incredible, really. You are doing it.”
    “Yeah, we are,” I boasted, the ghosts of our pasts lingering in the air along with a deafening silence that kept us mute. When it became uncomfortable, I could feel his next question coming.
    “So are you dating?” His beautiful, ice blue eyes drifted from his menu to meet mine, rendering me momentarily speechless. I nodded in reply.
    “Anyone I know?” His question was intrusive and he recognized it as well as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
    “Josh is a chef. One of Dallas’s best,” I announced proudly. “We’ve been dating a year. You’d like him.”
    “Nice, well at least he’s not a bum,” he said with a shrug. I gave him an odd look and tilted my head at his remark. Surely, after seven years and a fiancée later this man was not jealous. “You expected me to be with a bum, Dean?”
    “Dallas, I never expect anything from you. You are too unpredictable,” he remarked, looking for our waitress and gesturing for her.
    “I was never unpredictable, and I was nineteen,” I said, taking a long sip of wine.
    He chuckled as he watched me. “Then you were twenty. Don’t forget that I know you. I bet you are still an unbelievably cocky pain in the ass, Dallas Whitaker.”
    “You knew me,” I retorted, finding that same lack of air that had tortured me a day earlier. Dean paused, and for a brief moment, I saw something in his eyes before it vanished.
    “So OB, that’s an interesting field,” I added, trying to change the subject. Though we had history, I was trying my best not to reminisce. We had parted under the worst of circumstances and I definitely didn’t want to rehash that tonight. “Do you enjoy it?”
    “Never a dull moment,” he said, catching my eyes