Page 22 of Entangled

“I think you do know, Cara. Again, circumstances, and all. They make all the difference.”

Cara made a dismissive sound. “Well, it certainly does now, anyway. Like you said, his wife is present, apparently.”

“Public opinion counts for too much in this life, unfortunately, and we made men are entirely to blame for that, too.”

She didn’t reply to that.

She didn’t know how to.

Cara fidgeted in an attempt to soothe her nerves as the maître D’ of the posh restaurant scrolled through reservations on a tablet. It didn’t help, and considering it had been months since she had dressed up and gone out on a formal date, she felt all kinds of awkward.

“Name?” the man asked.

“Rossi. Cara.”

“Ah, here we are. Follow me.”

Cara managed to get distracted by the high-vaulted ceilings of the restaurant, and the crystal chandeliers hanging over every single table. She was led closer to the open concept kitchen of the restaurant, and further away from the bar.

“Miss,” the maître D’ said, bringing Cara from her daze. “Your table.”

Cara thanked the man, and sat down at the empty table. Checking her phone, she noted she wasn’t early, but she wasn’t late, either.

Nathan—the doctor she met at the café—arrived less than five minutes after she had sat down, wearing a proper suit and a smile. “Cara.”

He took her hand, bent down, and kissed two of her knuckles, allowing her to stay seated. Then, he too took the only other chair available at the table.

“Why do you seem surprised to see that I showed up?” Cara asked.

Nathan laughed, taking the menus from the server before shooing the man away. “No promises, remember? That’s what you told me when we met. I get a random text, just as I’m coming out of a routine surgery, that asks about dinner, and nothing else. That doesn’t seem a little on-the-fence to you?”

Cara had to give him that. “All right, fair enough.”

“You look beautiful.”

“Thank you. And this place is …” Cara waved a hand high. “Amazing.”

“It helps to know people sometimes,” Nathan joked. “The owner is a friend from way back. I always get reservations last minute, when others can’t.

“Nice to know.”

“Drinks before food?”

“No on the drinks. I think I’ll let you order the food for both of us. Surprise me.”

Nathan flashed her with a smile. There was nothing necessarily wrong with the man. He was charming, good-looking, and decent, by all standards. He looked fit, well-dressed, and had a good path in his life. He was everything that she should want in a man, because he was safe and nice and appropriate.

Cara felt nothing looking at him.

Nathan did nothing for her.

Sad, really.

She just wanted to feel normal again.

It didn’t help that it felt like someone was watching her. Cara tried to brush the odd sensation off and ignore it. Despite regretting her spur of the moment decision to text Nathan for a date, Cara decided to stick it out.

It was only after the food had arrived, and Cara picked at the dish set in front of her, that Nathan cleared his throat loudly.