Page 59 of Best Kept Vows

It felt almost brazen to eat alone.

Did people do that in restaurants? I looked around and found that everyone was with someone—I was theonlysolodiner. It made me self-conscious, and I wondered if maybe I should just get a glass of wine and?—

“Lia?”

I looked up and smiled. “Lev.”

His relaxed posture, and easy, confident stride brought both comfort and a slight disquiet. “Fancy seeing you here.”

“Well…you know…food.”Sheesh!I sounded like some twenty-something ingenue instead of the grown-ass woman I was.

“Mind if I join you?” There was amusement in his tone and an undercurrent of allure that contrasted sharply with the hesitancy fluttering inside me.

“Not at all.” I knew I sounded far too upbeat for something as ordinary as having someone join me for dinner.

Beneath my casual response, a silent question lingered—would this be a date?

Or are we just acquaintances eating together?

What are the rules?

“I come here a lot.” Lev settled on a stool next to mine.

“Hey, Lev, how’s it hangin’, man?” The bartender came by, and he and Lev did some complex handshake thing.

“All good, Walt.”

“Your usual?” Walt, the bartender, asked, and Lev nodded.

Hisusualdrink was an IPA on tap. I had ordered a glass of Pinot Grigio, which seemed harmless.

“The food is great, and the place is perfect if you’re eating alone. You know, for dinner and dash?”

I smiled then. “Is that what you’re doing, dinner and dashing?”

He laughed, and damn it, I found him incredibly attractive. Which was wildly inconvenient, considering I was a married woman with a handsome, age-appropriate husband—unlike Lev, who was a solid decade younger and entirely the wrong kind of temptation.

I’d never been able to see the appeal of being a cougar but now,oh, yeah, I couldsosee it.

“Since I have such wonderful company, I think I’ll dinner andlinger.” He raised his glass, and I touched mine to his.

“To not eating alone.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

“To not eating alone,” I chimed, and felt the ache of all the lonely dinners these past years.

“I hope I’m not the one making you look like you sucked on a sour lemon,” Lev interrupted my thoughts.

I let out a low chuckle. “Not at all. I was just thinking about eating alone.”

“I love it, especially in restaurants. I can focus on my food and clear my head. But I am partial to the company of beautiful women.”

I shot him a look of mock exasperation.

“Audrey, you gotta say thank you when a man compliments you.”

I felt the burn on my cheeks. “Thank you.”

Lev insisted I order the Collins Burger, the restaurant’s acclaimed masterpiece.