Certain.
"Seven?" he asks.
"Seven," I say.
"I'll swing by the house and pick you up," he adds.
Dex suddenly pops between us.
"Am I invited?"
"No," Gabriel says.
"Wow," Dex says. "After everything I’ve done for this marriage."
"Go away," Gabriel says.
Dex grins.
"Worth a shot."
***
Several hours later I’m sitting in a small Italian restaurant trying to remember how normal dinner dates work. A part of me almost laughs because I used to imagine what it would be like to have dinner with Gabriel Shelly, just the two of us, with no problems from Mason, no rules, and no pretending. And now here I am, across the table from him, not just on a date, but as his wife… and the woman he loves. The whole thing feels a little surreal.
Gabriel settles into the booth like this is the easiest place in the world to be.
Relaxed.
At ease.
Still unfairly attractive.
"What a day," he says, leaning back in the booth.
"That’s one way to describe it," I reply.
"Career Day usually involves firefighters and dentists," he says. "Not accidental public love confessions."
"Accidental?" I ask.
He shrugs. "The timing might have surprised me. The part where I meant it did not."
I study him across the table.
"You said you loved me in front of an entire assembly," I say.
He meets my eyes, completely unapologetic.
"Yeah," he says simply. "I did."
A slow smile spreads across his face. He reaches for the bread basket and nudges it toward me.
"Eat," he says.
"Is that an order?"
"It’s hockey player advice," he says. "Carbs help when your brain is trying to process the fact that your husband just told an entire school he loves you."
