Love, Lies & Consequences by Natasha D. Frazier Page B

felt like an eternity although the ride was smooth with light traffic and few red lights. She wasn’t breathing normally and she didn’t realize it until she exhaled and let out a long breath of air upon arriving at the restaurant. The tension she felt was evidenced by her sore back. Get a grip, she coaxed herself.
    While looking for a parking space, she saw that Caleb was already there, punctual just like she remembered. He stood in front of the glass revolving doors at the entrance, near valet parking, waiting to escort her into the building. Parking her car, she exhaled slowly and deeply, gathered her composure, got out of the car and walked towards the entrance.
    Caleb’s eyes immediately captured hers as she neared him. As she held his gaze, his smooth voice began to echo in her ear. “Cami, thanks for meeting me,” he said as he grabbed her hand, quickly brought it to his mouth and caressed it with his lips. The move startled Raegan but she was pleased nonetheless. Here we go, she thought.
    “You’re welcome,” was all she could muster.
    He extended his left hand toward the door, gesturing that she should enter first. He was always a gentleman. That was one of the things that she liked about him. Raegan sauntered past him, being careful not to sway her hips too much or too little. She wanted to make sure that he didn’t think that she was trying to impress him.
    He watched her as she walked in front of him, admiring her class and elegance. He missed her so much and hoped that tonight he would get a chance to make things right between them.
    “Welcome to Char! Will it just be the two of you?” the hostess asked.
    “Yes,” they responded in unison.
    The hostess grabbed two menus and requested that they follow her to an empty booth in the rear of the restaurant.
    “I hope this works okay for you two. Please enjoy your evening here at Char,” the hostess said with a smile as she placed their menus on the table, whipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder and walked away.
    Raegan was grateful for the seating in the rear of the restaurant because she had a pretty good view of the entire place, including the entrance and exit doors. She didn’t think Rico would show up there but just in case he did, she would spot him long before he would see her. He should be with his fraternity brothers at the convention anyway.
    Waiting for Raegan to slide into the booth, Caleb remained standing until she was comfortably sitting. After she sat down, he began thanking her again for meeting him and immediately picked up the conversation where they left off on the telephone.
    “Cami, it is so good to see you,” he said again, flashing his bright white smile that showed his slightly crooked bottom tooth. “You know, after all that’s happened between us, I never thought that we would ever sit down like this again. But that didn’t stop me from hoping and praying it would happen. I appreciate you giving me the benefit of the doubt, even if it has been a hundred years,” He said. His gaze remained locked on hers.
    Fiddling with the black cloth napkin in her lap, she smiled and remained quiet, motioning with her head for him to continue. She didn’t want to waste any time. Far too much time had already passed, and after talking things over with Kensi she was quite interested to hear what he had to say now.
    “First of all, I never cheated on you. When you came to the frat house that night, I was not in the bedroom with anyone. In fact, I wasn’t locked up in that bedroom at all. I was in the bathroom, sick from either the alcohol or something that I had eaten earlier that day or possibly a combination of both. When I came out of the bathroom, one of my brothers told me that you had just left. When I heard that, I came running out of the house to find you, and that’s when I called your name and you turned around to slap me. You didn’t give me a chance to say anything. I had no idea what happened or what even warranted