Ex-Husband's Regret (Ava and Rowan) novel Chapter 40

“So, what’s the most exciting thing about your job?” I change the subject.

A smile lights up his face as he begins telling me about his job. Soon our food arrives and we dig in.

I try to focus but the more people start arriving, the more nervous I get. I try to relax and focus on Ethan but it doesn’t work.

“Are you okay, Ava? You seem nervous?” he asks me slowly as if sensing my discomfort.

“Nervous?” I choke out.

“Yes, you’re fidgeting and your eyes keep roaming” he tells me. “Aren’t you enjoying yourself?”

Gosh! I feel so bad now. Should I tell him the truth or would it ruin everything that was building between us. The last thing I wanted was to come off as an ungrateful bitch.

“You can tell me, I promise I won’t be mad” his gaze pierces mine. It’s like he can see the battle waging inside me.

“I do like your company and I’m enjoying being around you…it’s the scene that I’m uncomfortable with” I murmur truthfully.

“You mean the restaurant?”

“Yes…I’m not used to all this.”

There was a low chatter all around and everyone looked lively but I felt out of place. Like I didn’t belong here.

“I’m sorry…I didn’t think to ask, I just assumed that this is the kind of place you would want to come” he looks apologetic and I feel even worse.

“It’s a lovely place but I would be more comfortable at a greasy diner than this fancy restaurant”

He stares at me for a while before throwing down his napkin. At first I thought that he was pissed off. That he was going to walk away, but he surprises me.

I smile wide at the mention of ice cream. Maybe this evening could be salvaged after all. Nodding at him in approval, he takes my hand, just as I feel eyes burning the side of my skull.

As we he walks me towards his car, I search for whoever it is that was looking at me.

I almost stumble when my eyes land on a familiar pair of grey eyes. Rowan was standing next to Emma, near the restaurant we just came from and he was glaring at me and Ethan.

There was a storm brewing behind his eyes. A very dangerous one.

Averting my eyes and shaking off the dangerous feeling his burning eyes evoked, I focus on my date.

I wasn’t doing anything wrong, and he had no right to seem angry when he was clearly on a date with Emma.

Ethan manages to pull me out of those looming thoughts. For the rest of our date, he gets me to forget about Rowan, even though there was still that underlying current in the atmosphere.