“The blonde,” she asked, swallowing hard. “The one you left with that night I saw you here.”

Frowning, he pulled the keys from the ignition. “Why?”

Why? Good question. She was an idiot. Was she really going to pick a fight with him now after he’d been so wonderful to her all week over someone in his past? But the visual assaulted her again, and she thought of how he probably took the girl back to his place and made love to her the incredible way he always did to Regina, kissing her the entire time, until the two-bit whore was screaming his name.

“Because I wanna know,” she said, her words even more demanding.

Apparently not only was she going to do this she felt ready to ruin their entire evening. She was this close to telling him to take her home and fuck the tiramisu. Could she be any more ridiculous?

“Serenity,” he said, opening his door.

“What?”

“Serenity,” he said again, stepping out of the Jeep. “That was her name.” He leaned in before opening the door. “Don’t get out yet. I wanna help you.”

Regina opened the door and started getting out as he came around with a frown. “Serenity?” she asked, her words dripping with disgust. “What is she a stripper?”

Holding on to her elbow so she wouldn’t come down too hard on her ankle as she stepped out of the Jeep, Brandon seemed more concerned with her ankle than he did her line of questioning.

“I don’t know,” he said simply.

Stupidly, Regina refused to let it go. “What do you mean you don’t know? She went home with you, didn’t she? Did you not—” She stopped cold, knowing what a no to her next question would confirm, and even though she’d automatically assumed so that night, the thought now sickened her. Still she had to ask. “Did you not talk at all that night?”

“Nope.”

They’d started walking. Brandon had slipped his hand in hers, and Regina stopped suddenly, attempting to take her hand back, but he held it tight. Was she really going to get this upset over that now? Yes! He’d harped so much about his no-attachment rules, yet he kissed that bitch the way he had in front of the entire world. Did he expect her to believe now that he hadn’t even talked to her? He’d been chatty and all smiles with the girl that night. That is until he’d seen Regina.

“Do you always kiss these girls you want no attachments with the way you kissed her that night?”

Another couple walked by them, noticeably avoiding eye contact with them. Only then did Regina realize she’d gotten loud, so she started walking again. But she wasn’t letting him off with his short answers. Brandon had asked about Antonio, someone she merely worked with and happened to speak to a little too sweetly for his liking. He, on the other hand, had slept with this girl not more than a few weeks ago.

“No, I don’t,” he said, looking straight ahead. “But why does that even matter now?”

Regina wasn’t sure why it mattered, but it did. It hadn’t dawned on her until today, when seeing the restaurant brought back the blinding reminder of how recently he’d been with someone else. Suddenly, she needed to know more about Serenity. They’d both looked a little too smitten with each other that night. Given that one kiss Regina had been witness to, it turned her stomach to think of the night they must’ve had. She wasn’t so sure anymore if she’d been stupidly naïve or not to buy into his no-return-visits’ rule. Who behaved that way in public the very first time they met? Neither of them appeared to be drunk. And who did Regina think she was to believe she was so damn special she’d been the only one he’d ever returned to?

“No?” She glared at him. “So she was special, then?”

If they weren’t already on the crowded sidewalk of the strip, she might yank her hand away from him like a child having a fit. She felt completely duped. Had he made that girl with the stripper name feel as special as he had Regina all week?

They walked up to the young lady standing at the hostess bar just outside the Italian restaurant. Still seething, Regina hadn’t even heard what the hostess asked them until Brandon tugged at her hand gently.

“You like to people watch, right?” he asked. “So outside?”

Regina barely acknowledged him. She was in no mood to do any people watching or even be there anymore. A part of her told her she was being ridiculous getting so worked up over something like this, but then clarity kept winning out. The little naïve bubble she’d lived in so blissfully this entire last week had just burst. She should’ve known this was too good to be true. He was too good to be true.

The moment the hostess took their drink orders and walked away Brandon reached across the table and took her hand before she could pull it away.

“That kiss you saw . . .”

He squeezed her hand when she tried to pull it away. Okay, maybe she didn’t want to know more about that damn kiss anymore. Hearing him address it made her sick to her stomach, and a knot was already beginning to form at her throat. Why hadn’t she just let it go?

“It was the only time I kissed her that entire night.”

Regina laughed; although, she felt more like crying now than laughing. Had she really been so blinded by his charm and trying to figure out his inscrutable personality all week that he now thought he could pull this bullshit on her too? She was only glad they were outside and the buzz of the people and cars going up and down the strip was so loud because her exaggerated scoff had been pretty loud.

“Really?” she asked, lowering her voice. Her heart felt completely smothered now because she knew how much kissing went hand in hand with his lovemaking. “So when you took her home and fucked her, you never once kissed her?”

That did it. She’d officially ruined their evening. She’d taken this from a fairly calm and still-salvageable argument and made it nasty. They could’ve been sitting there enjoying a delectable dessert and then gone home to make beautiful love again. Instead, she wouldn’t even be able to eat now, and she’d probably be spending the night alone for the first time since he’d first spent the night at her place. Worse yet, she felt on the verge of crossing over to that other side, that side she’d crossed over one too many times and was the reason why she’d been on meds for months. She picked up her glass of water, hoping Brandon didn’t notice her shaking hand.

Brandon squeezed her other hand a little harder, closing his eyes for a moment before taking a deep breath. “This really is not the time or place for this, baby—”

“Don’t call me that,” she snapped, tugging her hand out of his grip. “But you’re right. I don’t think I wanna be here anymore.”

“That kiss was for you, Regina,” he said, very determined. “I kissed her out of desperation. I panicked, okay?”

“What?” Regina peered at him.

Desperation? He looked anything but desperate that night. Regina crossed her arms in front of her, not sure if she was more annoyed or curious now.

“I supposed you took her home out of desperation too?”

“Look,” he said, glancing around, and lowered his voice a bit. “You said it yourself the other day.” He glanced down at her still noticeably unstable hand. “Obviously, there is still a lot that you and I don’t know about each other. But trust me on this one. Please. That girl that night meant as much to me as any of the other girls I’ve never seen again.”

Sitting up a little straighter, Regina tried desperately to regain some of the composure she felt slipping away so quickly. “What exactly did you panic about, Brandon?”

This time Brandon took a sip of his own water, and that made her nervous. Her heart ached to think maybe she really was on to him and he knew it.

“Give me your hand,” he said, gently but firmly reaching his out for her.

If she weren’t in such need to feel instant comfort, she might’ve protested. Instead, she glanced down at his hand, tempted to give in.