Chapter 5

Candace

I forced myself to breathe.

One inhale.

One exhale.

Smile.

My fingers tightened around the stem of my wineglass as Jake settled back into his chair, completely unaware.

“My dad.”

The words kept echoing in my head.

No.

No, no, no.

Out of every man in Los Angeles…

Out of every person I could have flirted with at that stupid party…

It had to be Jake’s father.

Across the table, Elias looked almost unnaturally calm.

If I hadn’t spent an entire evening studying him, I never would have noticed the tiny crack in his composure.

His jaw was tighter.

The hand resting beside his plate had curled into a loose fist before relaxing again.

Jake laughed, completely oblivious.

“I know, right? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

I blinked.

“What?”

“You’ve barely said anything.”

“Oh.”

I let out a nervous laugh that sounded painfully fake.

“I was just… surprised.”

“I should’ve told you he was coming.”

“You really should have,” I said, feeling cold sweat gathering beneath my dress.

Jake scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. “I wanted it to be a surprise.”

Mission accomplished.

I picked up my water instead of the wine.

Alcohol would only loosen my tongue, and the last thing I needed was to say something catastrophic accidentally.

Elias finally spoke.

His voice was smooth.

“So.”

His blue eyes met mine for exactly half a second.

“You must be Candace.”

I swallowed. “I am.”

“It’s nice to meet you.”

Liar.

I forced a smile.

“You too.”

Another lie.

Jake grinned between us. “I knew you guys would get along.”

I nearly choked on my water.

Elias reached for his glass at exactly the same moment.

For one horrifying second, our eyes met again.

His expression remained composed.

Mine definitely didn’t.

Jake frowned.

“Are you okay?”

I coughed once.

“Wrong pipe.”

“You sure?”

“Mhm.”

I grabbed a napkin just to give myself something to do with my hands.

Anything.

Anything besides looking at Elias again.

A waiter arrived with our appetisers, giving me a blessed excuse to focus on something else.

The plates were set down one by one.

Jake thanked the waiter enthusiastically.

Elias gave a polite nod.

I silently thanked every deity I could think of for the interruption.

For almost a full minute, nobody spoke.

Only the sound of cutlery.

Jake broke the silence.

“So…”

He pointed his fork toward his father.

“Dad’s doing his teaching here.”

I looked up before I could stop myself asElias nodded.

Damn it.

I smiled awkwardly as if I didn't know that already.

As if we hadn't spent that heated moment together.

Jake kept talking.

“I told Candace you’ve always wanted to teach.”

Elias nodded again. “I finally had the opportunity.”

“He’s one of the youngest lecturers at his level.”

Jake laughed.

“He says everyone makes him feel ‘too young’,” he added air-quoting his words. “Which technically he is.”

Elias looked at his son with the smallest hint of amusement.

“I see your sense of humour hasn’t improved.”

“It wasn’t funny?”

“No.”

Jake clutched his chest dramatically.

“That hurts.”

I smiled despite myself.

For just a second, the tension eased.

Then Elias looked at me.

Only briefly.

Jake noticed.

“You two are acting weird.”

My heart stopped.

“What?”

“You keep looking away every time you make eye contact.”

I laughed too quickly.

“Do we?”

“Yeah.”

Jake shrugged.

“I figured Dad was intimidating you.”

I immediately nodded.

“Exactly,” I whispered to him.

Jake turned to his father. “See?”

Elias lifted an eyebrow.

“I’m intimidating?”

“You’ve got the whole serious rich guy thing going.”

“I wasn’t aware.”

“You absolutely do.”

I forced another laugh mid-drink. “He’s… very composed.”

Jake snapped his fingers.

“That’s the word!”

Keep talking.

Keep it normal.

Keep your mouth shut.

Jake leaned forward.

“So tell me.”

He looked between us.

“What do you guys think of each other?”

I nearly inhaled my drink.

Elias answered first.

“I’ve only just met her.”

The words landed between us with almost painful precision.

Only just met her.

I looked at him.

For the shortest second, I wondered if he regretted the lie as much as I did.

I smiled tightly.

“And I’ve only just met him.”

Jake beamed.

The main courses arrived. For several minutes, Jake filled every silence.

He talked about classes.

His friends.

The apartment he wanted to move into after graduation.

A road trip he’d been planning for months.

I listened gratefully.

The more Jake spoke, the less opportunity there was for me or Elias to accidentally reveal something.

At one point, Jake turned to his father.

“You remember that networking party I told you about?”

My fork froze.

Elias didn’t react.

“I do.”

“It was so boring.”

My pulse quickened.

“I still can’t believe Candace went for hers.”

I opened my mouth before thinking.

“It wasn’t…” I stopped.

Elias looked at me.

Jake tilted his head. “It wasn’t what?”

Think.

Think.

Think.

“It wasn’t… as boring as I expected.”

Smooth.

Very smooth.

“I don’t know how. I almost died of boredom at mine.”

I smiled weakly.“Some conversations were interesting.” but regretted the words the instant they left my mouth.

Elias’s eyes lifted.

Steady.

Quiet.

Dangerous.

Jake nodded.

“Fair enough.”

I let out the breath I’d been holding.

That had been close.

Far too close.

The rest of dinner passed in careful conversation.

Whenever Jake asked me something, I answered him.

Whenever Jake included his father, Elias responded with calm precision.

Whenever I accidentally looked at Elias, I immediately found something else to stare at.

The candle.

My plate.

The tablecloth.

Literally anything else.

Because every look reminded me that I’d called him attractive.

That I’d laughed with him, that I’d slept with him.

I wanted the floor to open beneath me.

“I’ve been thinking.” Jake's voice drew me from my thoughts and I already disliked the sound of that.

“Oh?”

“I’m leaving for New York soon.”

His smile softened.

“I don’t know when all three of us will be together again.” Jake looked from me to Elias.

“So…” His grin widened. “What do you guys think about doing this again before I leave?”

Silence.

A single heartbeat stretched into eternity.

I felt Elias look at me.

I didn’t dare look back.

Jake smiled, waiting for an answer.

And all I could think was that surviving one dinner had nearly killed me.

I wasn’t sure I’d survive a second one.