“How do you find out about these spots?” I asked. “You can’t be personally trying every restaurant yourself.” Given the rapid rate at which businesses opened and closed in New York, that would’ve been impossible.
“Word of mouth and lots of trial and error. But I explore more often than you think. Finding hidden gems is one of my favorite parts of the job.” Sebastian held a forkful of his eggs out to me. “Try this. Their eggs are almost as good as their pancakes.”
I leaned forward and wrapped my lips around the fork. The eggs were impossibly soft and savory, but I barely registered their taste as Sebastian’s gaze dipped to my mouth.
A subtle shift charged the air. My skin tightened, goosebumps rippling across the surface.
“What do you think?” he asked softly.
I chewed, slow and deliberate, never breaking eye contact. “You’re right,” I said after I swallowed. “Almost as good.”
A beat pulsed between us, thick and electric. His eyes flickered with heat before he pulled the fork back and set it on his plate, his movements tightly controlled.
There was nothing inherently sexual about this moment, yet desire bloomed low in my stomach nonetheless. I crossed my legs, the air a shade warmer than a minute ago.
Sebastian and I had agreed not to have sex again until after our first date, which meant we were clear for today. Right?
But if I thought he’d pick up on my vibes and scrap our remaining stops for a torrid afternoon in his bedroom, I was sorely disappointed. He held fast to our original itinerary, and after we finished breakfast, we walked off the food with a leisurely stroll through Corona Park.
After that, he took me to Brooklyn, where we popped into various specialty shops to say hi to the purveyors—a butcher who sold the best prime cuts in the city, a cheese monger with an encyclopedic knowledge of her wares, and the proprietor of a darling wine shop who introduced me to a gorgeous full-bodied red that was perfect for winter.
I loaded up on wine and cheese. The owners promised to ship them to me so we didn’t have to carry them around all day. I didn’t eat meat, but even I marveled at the beautiful marbled cuts at the butcher shop.
Lunch was a casual affair at a tiny restaurant that looked like it’d been transported straight from Bangkok. It was cash only and big enough for maybe ten people at a time, but the green curry literally changed my life.
Because I loved sweets so much, Sebastian added three spots to our dessert crawl: a gourmet ice cream shop where we split a strawberry and sweet cream swirl with house-made graham crunch, a family-owned Asian bakery for a heavenly slice of pandan chiffon cake, and finally, a French chocolatier for an assortment of truffles. By the time we were done, I was practically waddling down the street.
“No more. I don’t think I can walk.” I sank onto a nearby bench with a groan. “I’m stuffed.”
Sebastian laughed. He sat next to me, his knee touching mine. “I expected more from you, Sal. We haven’t even had dinner yet.”
I leveled him with a mock glare. “Aren’t you supposed to be nicer to me now that we’re dating?”
It felt strange to utter that word aloud, but it was an accurate descriptor. I was dating Sebastian Laurent—and I was having an incredible time.
He’d planned theperfectfirst date. I loved food, but I’d endured enough boring, stuffy dinners to last me a lifetime. Today’s tour combined my culinary cravings with just the right amount of activity. It was way easier to relax when we were out and about instead of crammed into some formal table with overly solicitous servers hovering around us.
“Do you want me to be nicer to you?” he asked, sounding amused.
“God, no. Have a backbone,” I said, earning myself another laugh. “Except for the instances when youshouldbe nice to me. I expect you to know the difference by reading my mind.”
I was joking, but my heart skipped a beat when Sebastian tucked my chin between his fingers.
“Hmm.” His eyes glittered with mischief. “Would this count as one of those instances?”
“Maybe,” I breathed.
He leaned forward. My eyes fluttered shut, and—
“Maya, is that you?”
I jerked back so fast I almost fell off the bench. Sebastian pulled away more gracefully, but his shoulders bunched with tension as my aunt approached us, her grocery bags in hand.
“Hi, Meera Aunty,” I said, trying to quell my rising panic. “What, um, are you doing here?”
She raised her eyebrows. “I live around here.”
Shit.I’d forgotten that she lived in Brooklyn. That, plus the fact she was in her mid-fifties and unmarried, had made her somewhat of a pariah in my family. I’d asked my mother to come with me to Greenpoint once, and she’d acted like I told her to abandon civilization and live in a cave instead.
