Not quite sure what I was really asking, I let the question hang in the air, but Ocean wasn’t having it. He held my gaze, and it felt like a challenge. “What about her?”
“I…” I wasn’t brave enough to ask if Coby would appreciate knowing he was here having dinner with me like we were on a date, so I said, “I thought you were going to let me see her.”
“And I will. When I’m ready.”
Sighing, I sat down in front of the other empty place setting in front of him. “So what are you waiting for?”
“For one of you to tell me the truth.”
While I gaped at him—a thousand responses flitted through my mind—Ocean stood up and started removing the silver-domed lids. My mouth watered at the sight of the jumbo shrimp cocktail, stuffed lobster tails, salmon, scallops, caviar, and oysters. Even the various side dishes looked amazing.g
“I didn’t know what you liked,” Ocean admitted when he caught me salivating, “so I had the chef prepare a little of everything.”
Coby must have alsolet it slipthat I loved seafood. What exactly were the two of them talking about up in that big house?
I missed her.
I pointed out everything I wanted, and Ocean made my plate before making his. I waited for him to sit down before I touched mine. Noticing, he threw me a wicked smile, and I rolled my eyes.
“I’ve never had caviar,” I admitted a few minutes later as I used the tiny spoon to scoop some out of the chilled gold jar and onto the mini brioche toasts. I was nervous as hell to try what was essentially fish eggs.
“Try it with the champagne,” Ocean suggested as he lifted the bottle from the bucket and poured some into a chute.
I made a face as I brought the tartine to my mouth and bit into it quickly like I was auditioning for Fear Factor. Oceancackled as he watched me, and I realized I was still making a face as I chewed. I was so prepared for it to be gross that I didn’t notice the butter and slightly nutty flavor until it slid down my throat. It was a little briny but not overly so.
I grabbed the flute of champagne and took a sip while Ocean returned to his food.
“So when is the wedding?” I asked.
He glanced at me before refocusing on his food. “Christmas Eve.”
I raised my brows in surprise. “So soon? You really want your anniversary to land on a holiday?”
“Why? You think we should get married sooner?”
“No!” I shouted. Ocean nodded and kept eating. Damn, he was hungry. “When was the last time you ate?” I asked when he seemed to be devouring the meat and ignoring his sides.
“This morning. I had breakfast with Coby.”
“Ah,” I said, suddenly understanding.Poor baby.I set down my champagne and plucked a shrimp from the cocktail glass. “Did she tell you that you can keep eating meat if you want?”
Ocean nodded as he cut into his salmon. “Yes.”
“She’s lying.”
“I know.”
Coby had tried for weeks to get me to switch to plant-based foods before I had to curse her out to get her to back off. Prince Charming wouldn’t do that, though. Oh, no. He’d rather sneak away to have dinner with me.
Ocean sat back and wiped his mouth after clearing his plate in record time. We locked gazes, and amusement quickly filled his eyes once he saw me laughing at him. He then stood up without warning and threw his napkin on the table before coming around the table and kissing me slowly. It felt so natural that I forgot that it was wrong, especially when he pulled back with a possessive hand lightly gripping my throat.
“Same time tomorrow?”
My heart plummeted at the thought of spending another night alone, but I nodded, and he left after telling me goodnight.
Ocean visited every evening over the next week for dinner. Knowing boredom and loneliness awaited me once he left, I attempted various tricks to prolong his visits after dinner, including showing him the tricks I was teaching Coco. The pup still didn’t fuck with Ocean and growled every time he got too close.
Such a cutie.
