Tony, too, went unnaturally still for a beat. But then he took a deep breath, let it hiss out, and said, “Yeah, it doesn’t matter now. Maybe it’s time to stop hiding from what happened in the past.”
“You look amazing,” I whispered, standing on tiptoe to speak in Tony’s ear. “Heath’s an idiot, and if you weren’t batting for the other team, I’d do you in an instant.”
Tony blushed and gave an uncomfortable little laugh. “It feels like I’m wearing a Halloween costume. But you’re right about one thing. Heathisan idiot.”
The shopping expedition continued. As the afternoon wore into evening, the number of designer shopping bags in the back of Gage’s Yukon grew to truly obscene levels. I’d ended up wearing the cream dress and slingback pumps, while Tony was in his new suit, with the addition of a striking maroon silk button-down and matching pocket square.
As we entered the high-end restaurant Gage had blackmailed into taking our reservation, the three of us drew a number of interested looks. I tried not to shrink back, knowing that—just like Tony—I would have to get past my instinctive desire to hide in the shadows if I was going to play this role successfully.
Did these random people recognize Gage? Or was it the expensive clothes?
Maybe it didn’t matter. The restaurant staff was polite and welcoming. Our table was tucked away enough to feel at leastsomewhat private, while not being truly hidden from the other diners.
“You know, if you get rhinoceros-burger juice on that suit, you’re never going to forgive yourself,” I murmured to Tony, as I scanned a menu full of food I’d never even heard of.
Tony glanced down at the clothing that cost more than I could panhandle in a year. He cleared his throat. “Yeah... maybe I’ll pass on the hamburger after all. Gage, do you know what’s good? Could you order for me, please?”
“Order for both of us,” I said. “I don’t even know how to pronounce most of this stuff.”
Gage gave a little chuckle. “You assumeIknow how to pronounce it either? But, yeah, I can do that.”
I ended up with a fancy-looking pasta dish containing little red and white bits of seafood that looked like shrimp, but were apparently... baby lobsters? Tony had a steak and some kind of puffy, cheesy potato thing.
“Mmm. Best rhinoceros I’ve had all week,” he deadpanned, cutting through the succulent red meat.
Gage had some kind of tiny roast birds in a mushroom sauce, with asparagus and almonds on the side. For dessert, we shared a chocolate cake thingie that had a different flavor of fruit jam between each layer, and a rich vanilla buttercream frosting slathered on the outside.
I noticed that Gage was only pretending to eat it, instead watching Tony and me devour the thing like it was the last food on the planet.
“Oh, mygod,” I groaned, once we’d fought a fork-duel to scrape up the last bits of jam and icing. “That was the most amazing meal I’ve ever eaten.”
“And now the food coma is coming for me,” Tony agreed, looking as wrecked as I felt. “Crap—are we supposed to get up from the table now?”
Gage was smiling his secret little smile again—the one that said he was an alpha who’d successfully fed his charges until they were about to pass out from bliss. “Pretty sure they frown on sleeping at the tables. Sorry.” He stretched, taking a look around the dining room as though to catalog the other customers. “Well, the good news is, we’re only a block or so from the parking garage.”
Tony snorted. “It’s almost likesomeonewas thinking ahead.”
“Always,” Gage said, running a satisfied, proprietary eye over both of us.
The trip back to the pack house was uneventful. As Gage and Tony hauled our shopping bags up to the front porch, I was busy wondering if Gage would let me crash in his room again tonight, rather than slinking back up to the attic.
That was my excuse for yelping in surprise and nearly jumping straight back into Tony as the door opened to reveal Heath, car keys in hand—eyes bloodshot and slightly wild as he took in our presence in front of him.
THIRTY-FOUR
