“Copycat,” she signs.
“How do you know you didn’t copy me?” I return.
“Because I was the only one who read the menu.”
I chuckle as a sommelier arrives at our table with the bottle of wine and pours it into each of our glasses before returning us to our bubble of privacy.
“This is quite the first date.”
I narrow my eyes and cock my head to the side. “First date?”
“I mean, kind of.” Her shoulders rise and fall.
“First dates are filled with unknowns. It’s two strangers meeting. If it goes well, those strangers will carry smooth conversation for hours on end, it may ignite a spark, but often finishes with pleasantries and a smile,” I explain. “We aren’t strangers anymore, Chaos. And tonight will not end in pleasantries.”
She grins. “Is that what we’ve been doing all these years?”
“It’s what I’ve been doing,” I say. “Getting to know you through late-night conversations at Black Rabbit. Observing your habits. Discovering your likes and dislikes. Admiring how beautiful you are. Stifling the attraction and obsessive thoughts while watching you work. Biding my time until you were ready for what I was prepared to give you.”
I bring my glass to my lips, letting the bright, tart wine linger on my tongue.
She sucks in a breath. “And what was that?”
“Everything.”
Even in the dim candlelight, I see the way her pulse quickens at her neck and the way her pupils dilate when she listens to my words. As much as I love her voice, her hungry silence is just as enticing.
She crosses her legs under the table, and I smile the way a wolf smiles at a fat rabbit.
Our food arrives and is placed in front of us. Three plump, mouth-watering diver scallops are perched on a bed of mushroom risotto. It looks almost as delectable as my “date.” Kelly stutters out a thank-you to the server.
I raise my glass. “To first dates.”
She delicately clinks her glass to mine. “And whatever comes after.” This woman has no idea how much her words rattle mycage. Anticipation simmers under the surface as we sip our wine and take our initial bites. It’s quite delicious.
“So if this isn’t a first date, what would you call it?”
I resist barking out a laugh at her attempt to have the what-are-we discussion—we’re husband and wife. “A continuation. An opportunity to spoil you for a night?”
“Do you often spoil the women you’re incontinuationswith?” She lifts her wineglass, and my gaze drops to her left hand, wishing I could claim her there. If seeing her in the dress I picked out had me feeling possessive, I can’t imagine what seeing the diamond ring on her finger will do to me.
I cock a brow and wipe my mouth with my napkin. “I enjoy spoiling you. I wouldn’t know about any other women. There’s no one besides you.”
“What about the one who came before me? The last one.”
I inhale and blow out the breath.Ah.I knew this would have to come out eventually. I set down my fork, rest my arm on the table, and twist the stem of my wineglass while I collect my words.
“Dad said she was apiece of work,” Kelly prompts.
I huff a small laugh. Of course he minimized it that way. “Yeah. There was one other woman I was serious with. It was while you were away at college. I don’t think you ever met her.”
Kelly confirms with a shake of her head.
“Piper—that was her name—at first she was wonderful. Supportive, kind, and thoughtful. We were attracted to each other right away, and that only grew over time. I thought I loved her. I was even going to propose, but then I began to see the cracks in her personality.”
She was bad for me. Clyde noticed, he always noticed these things before I did, and all he needed to do was see two people together to know whether they were a match. He had the realdeal with Nancy, so he knew what love looked like—knew what soul mates looked like.
Clyde gently expressed his concern for me a few times when it came to our relationship. I brushed him off, assuming not everyone can have what he and Nancy did.
