Stealing Cupid's Bow by Jewel Quinlan Page A

gaze locked on her, and she could almost feel the heat of his fingers on her chin again. Feel the intensity as he’d looked her in the eye and told her that Brad was an idiot.
    He rose from his seat. “Raine, I’m glad we could meet again. This is my friend Tania.”
    She exchanged hellos with the petite, blonde waitress in a skimpy cocktail dress. “What would you like to drink?” Tania asked.
    “A glass of white wine, please.”
    Tania took down her order and winked at Alexander before heading to the bar.
    Alexander took Raine’s hand and pulled her to sit beside him on the couch.
    “Thank you for inviting me. I can’t stay long,” she said. “It’s been an exhausting day.” She wasn’t sure why she said it and felt like a coward immediately after the words came out of her mouth. Was it because he had such a powerful presence? Whatever it was, she felt awkward and clumsy. It definitely didn’t feel like the right moment to bring up what she’d seen. She barely knew him. “No problem. How did you like the restaurant?” he asked.
    “It’s fabulous. I think it will go really well with this year’s theme.”
    “Theme?”
    “It’s their fortieth wedding anniversary, and the symbol for that is ruby, so everything is around love because of the color.”
    “Isn’t it always love?”
    “No. I mean, love is always a part of it, of course, but there have been different themes throughout the years.”
    “Does everyone in your family celebrate their anniversaries this way?” he asked.
    “No, just my parents. My father started it. The symbol for a one-year anniversary is paper. When they first married they were very young and struggled to pay the bills and keep the lights on. When their anniversary came up, my father had no money to buy my mother a present or anything. But he loved her so much that he couldn’t bear the thought of letting the occasion go uncelebrated. So he invited the whole family over for a barbecue in the backyard.
    “Since he couldn’t buy her any presents, and the anniversary symbol was paper anyway, he wrote her a love letter and read it to her in front of everyone. I’m told it was very romantic. Anyway, everyone had so much fun that night they decided to continue doing it every few years.” She felt a prickle inside as she remembered the story and almost sighed. It was one her mother had told her many times.
    “You’re really close to them, aren’t you?” he asked.
    “Yes.”
    “Have you ever been married?” he asked.
    “No, and you?”
    “Yes, I have been,” he said.
    Surprise washed over her.
    He took a sip of his drink and watched her over the rim of his glass, obviously knowing the reaction she would have to that information. He lowered his glass, the corners of his mouth pulled up in amusement.
    The waitress returned with her drink and set it on the table in front of her.
    “Just put it on my tab,” Alexander said, before Raine could even reach for her purse.
    The waitress nodded and walked away.
    Raine couldn’t help herself. As soon as the waitress was out of earshot she asked the question that burned on the tip of her tongue. “You? The man who doesn’t believe in love? You were married?”
    He grinned and nodded. “Even I have gone down that road.”
    “That explains it! That’s why you’re so negative. Don’t you think that you’re a little hypocritical then?”
    He shrugged. “At least I know what I’m talking about.”
    “And? What happened?” She cringed at her own nosiness. “Sorry, it’s none of my business. You don’t have to tell me.”
    “Not at all. I don’t mind. We were divorced eventually, of course.”
    Interesting. So he had been in love at one point in his life, which meant he had to have believed in it then. “Do you have any children?”
    “A daughter,” he said. “She’s all grown up now. ‘Fools in love’? Isn’t that the expression? It seems accurate to me.”
    All grown up? He didn’t look old enough to have an