Page 38 of About That Rule

“What’s the grin for?” Nate asked once they got a table.

She pointed to the framed photo near where they sat. “How can you not smile when you see the saying ‘A bird never flew on one wing’? It’s basically demanding a two-drink minimum.”

“At least we’re good for it. We always have two drinks. One for the wait,” he started.

“And one for the food,” Samantha finished.

It was as if the motto they’d created when they were twenty-one was enough to summon the cocktail waitress. They ordered Guinness and two appetizers. Within minutes, their beers arrived. They clinked their glasses for a makeshift toast.

“How’s work?” Nate asked.

“Great.” She was full of cheer. “My latest design for the new credit card is right on target. Creating a brand from the ground up is one of my favorite things about marketing for social media. Release date in still sixty days out, but it takes time to implement. What about you?”

“No complaints. My team delivers on time and clients are happy.”

“What’s missing?” Samantha immediately knew something was off with his response. He loved his job, but his tone didn’t sound like it.

He took a gulp from his drink. “You know that’s the same question I’ve been asking myself for a few months. Work and women were all I needed, but it hasn’t been enough lately.”

Ugh, same for her. Not that she was going to steal his thunder and complain about how her casual encounters with men had lost its allure, but she understood where he was coming from.

“Maybe you need a hobby?” she suggested. A hobby wasn’t the same as an orgasm, but it was something to fill the time.

His eyes narrowed. “What type of hobby are you suggesting? My favorite activity was making a woman orgasm.”

She felt her skin get red as she blushed. Luckily, their waitress came over to drop off the Rueben nachos and cheese pretzel bites. They also ordered another round of drinks, following their silly two drink rule.

“I don’t know. Maybe you could grow a garden or something?”

He rolled his eyes, not impressed with the idea of fresh tomatoes from his patio. It made sense. She wasn’t sure who even had a garden in the city. The food smelled so good, she turned her direction to their appetizers.

As soon as she bit into a nacho, she moaned. “This is delicious. So good in fact, I’m mad this is the first time you’re bringing me here. I didn’t even know I liked Reuben, let alone on the sacred nacho. I could eat this all by myself.”

He scraped some nachos onto his plate.

“Smart move.” She winked at him.

Their drinks arrived, and they did another quick toast.

“In my defense,” Nate said between bites of food, “when you visit, it’s normally so we can go to a club or party, not chill in a small pub with no chance of getting laid.”

She brushed her hair over her shoulder. “Ah, before we got hitched. Truth.”

“Outside of not fucking, our marriage hasn’t been too bad.” He gave her a lopsided grin, and butterflies swarmed in her stomach. She swatted the thoughts away of how much she loved his smile, especially when it was directed at her.

“Gee, what a compliment.”

He laughed. “I know you’re joking, but it really is a compliment coming from me. I never wanted any commitment, and now I see it isn’t actually as bad as I imagined. We’re having fun, conversation is easy, and there’s no stress outside of not having sex.”

She tossed him a pointed look. “Again, not the best compliment. You’re pretty much saying I’m making marriage bearable.”

In a sweet gesture, he rubbed his thumb across the top of her hand. Those damn butterflies were fluttering inside her again.

“You’re the only person who could ever make me want to get married, Sammy,” he confided in her. “That is a hell of a lot better than bearable.”

That was a better response than she’d expected. Not that the sweet words were warranted, but it beat the shit out of hearing she made marriage manageable.

“Look at you getting all soft on me,” she teased, mostly to steer away from having a real conversation about their marriage. Like, seriously, what were they going to do when it all ended?