Homewrecker Incorporated by S. Simone Chavous Page A

an athlete. A torn ACL almost lost me my volleyball scholarship, but I got lucky with the timing and made it back a few games into the season my senior year of high school."
    "I noticed the scar on your knee." Grey turned his hand to grip mine before he ran his thumb over my knuckles. I shifted in my chair as the effect of his simple touch traveled through my body. I pulled my hand away and picked up my glass. He tilted his head to one side, eyeing me curiously.
    "So you finished your business degree and joined the company with Gregory after college?"
    "Yeah, I was lucky to have something to fall back on even though it wasn't exactly what I'd wanted at the time. Everything happens for a reason, right?"
    "That's what they say," I replied. I'd always been more of the mind that shit just happened.
    "I'm happy where I'm at right now," he said, his eyes sparkling as he smiled at me. Jesus. "Being in operations suits me. Traveling to different plants, working overseas, it's been a great experience."
    "That's right. How long were you in Japan?"
    "Five years in Tokyo."
    "Wow, a long time. What was it like living there? Do you speak Japanese?"
    "I didn't when I left. I've picked up quite a bit over the years, not that I'm fluent, but I can get by."
    "That seems kind of terrifying, living in a place where you don't speak the language."
    "So you speak Italian?"
    "Um, not really, a little, but I plan to learn." I set my glass down and sat up straighter.
    "Even if you don't, I imagine you'll do just fine anywhere you go. Language barrier be damned."
    I smiled like a schoolgirl who'd just been praised by her teacher. I needed to cool it with the drinking before I really embarrassed myself.
    "So, why did you move to Tokyo for so long? Janet made it seem as though you were wanting to get away from something here." Yep, I definitely need to be cut off after asking such a pointed question and throwing Janet under the bus in one fell swoop.
    Grey's jaw flexed. "Someone needed to go and I didn't have anything to keep me here at the time. All the other guys who could have gone had families to worry about. It was easier for me to leave."
    He tossed back the last of his vodka and soda just as the waiter dropped off the seafood platter appetizer he'd ordered. It smelled divine.
    "I never liked seafood when I was a kid, but my mom forced me to give it a try when we went to Italy and I learned to love it," I blurted after slurping down an oyster. I wasn't sure why I said it.
    "Are you close with your mom still?"
    I froze. She was definitely not a subject I discussed openly, especially with men.
    "Yes, no, um, I mean I was, but not anymore. She died a long time ago."
    "I'm so sorry," he said, taking my hand on the table like I'd done earlier.
    "It's fine." I pulled away from his grip despite how good it felt to touch him again. "Like I said, it was a long time ago."
    Pulling his hand back as well, he seemed to take the hint and changed the subject.
    "You've never been married, any kids?" he asked, grinning before he popped a shrimp into his mouth.
    I nearly choked on a bite of lobster. "God no, no kids. I have a five-year-old niece I adore but that's it."
    "Does that mean you don't want kids?"
    "I can't see myself ever getting married, so no. Romantic relationships aren't exactly my thing. I'm not big on disappointment and betrayal."
    "Wow, that's a pretty bleak outlook you have there, Ms. Winston."
    His use of my father's last name threatened to dampen my appetite.
    "Please just call me Claudia from now on."
    "All I had to do was kiss you for the privilege," he said with a grin, trying to lighten the mood.
    "And you? You mentioned it was easier for you to go to Japan because you don't have any kids. Do you want them?" Why the fuck did I ask him that?
    "I think so, but I don't know. I always thought it would have happened by the time I was this old. Now that it hasn't, I wondered if it's just not meant to be."
    I nearly cracked up. A busboy approached