Page 13

Chapter Thirteen

Beau

“Chloe will be your waitress tonight,” Gideon grins, as he places menus in front of us. “She’ll be with you shortly. Enjoy your dinner.” He winks at us and walks away, his shirt shining with the Big Dipper on one side and Orion on the other.

“Thanks, Gideon,” Kit beams, and I can’t help but chuckle at her glowing teeth. “What?”

“Your teeth.” My eyes crinkle at the corners. The expression on her face is irresistible. She’s like a little kid at the candy store and I’m captivated.

“Yours too!” she says with sparkling eyes, and this time, I burst out laughing. Kit leans to the middle, lifting a hand to her cheek and whispering, “And theirs.”

My lips twitch as I scan the room, spotting glowing teeth and stares watching us. “Hello, everyone. Are you enjoying your night out?”

The room fills with amused chuckles and a few greetings. And the hum of conversation fills the room. I turn back to Kit, a smirk still lingering on my face. She’s shaking her head and smirking.

“Hi, I’m Chloe.” Our waitress introduces herself and fills a tall glass in front of each of us with water. “I know you were just seated, so I’ll give you a few minutes to decide what you’d like to eat.”

“Thank you, Chloe,” Kit and I say in unison. Our gazes meeting in surprise.

A shy expression covers Kit’s face before she starts reading the menu—the menu glowing with words and a few constellations. My cheeks pull up and a surge of emotion rushes through me. Slowly inhaling, I pick my menu up and start to read over the options. “I always forget that the restaurant fare is one hundred percent comfort food.”

“I know.” I can all but hear the smile in Kit’s voice. “It’s one of my favorite parts about eating here.”

Scanning the menu, I ask. “What are you in the mood for?”

A shy smile curves her lips. She leans on the table, resting her head on her palm. “It’s between the Sparkling Grilled Cheese and the Dazzling Pot Pie.” Her expression has my gut tightening as heat pools. I lift my glass to wet my parched mouth.

I swallow hard. “Sparkling Grilled Cheese ?” I quirk a brow and look at her skeptically.

“Oh yes! It’s the absolute best grilled cheese you’ll ever eat.” She places her other elbow on the table and leans in. I’m surrounded in honeysuckle and take a moment to breathe her in. I’m tempted to reach for her hand, but I’m not sure what she’d think about such a public display of affection, so I decide against it. “Not to mention the tomato soup. Sooo good!”

“So you’re a grilled cheese girl, huh?” I press my jaw together and try not to chuckle at how adorable she is. Her eyes glitter with excitement and I’m lost in their warm depths.

“I’m a comfort food girl. Any time. All the time,” she says, her expression so serious that the chortle I’ve been holding bursts out. “Are you making fun of me?”

Her narrowed eyes are softened by the smirk she’s wearing. “Never.” She tosses her napkin across the table, hitting me in the face.

“You’re the worst!” She scoffs.

“And you like it.” Her eyes flare, and she looks shyly down at the table. I’m positive that if there were more light in this room, I’d see pink on her cheeks. I reach across the table with her napkin. When she grabs it I hold on, not letting go until she meets my eyes. “Maybe just a little?”

Her head tilts in the most sweet way as she tugs at her bottom lip. Putting the napkin back on her lap, she mumbles. “Maybe a little.”

A grin spreads across my face, and my chest flutters, pools of warmth flooding me. Pulling my eyes from her I glance back at my menu. “What do you think I should order?”

“I don’t think you can go wrong with anything on the menu.” She beams, her teeth glowing and puts her elbows on the table clasping her hands together. Tiny points of heat touch my face, making my pulse jump. Taking another sip of water, I work to focus on the menu so that I can pick something. But how do I pick from the menu when all I crave is the woman sitting across from me?

“What about the Braised Back Rib Glow?” She asks, interrupting my thoughts that are about anything but food.

“The Braised Back Rib Glow?” I echo, lifting an eyebrow.

“Yeah,” she smirks and chews on her bottom lip. Her gaze drops to my shoulders and slides over my chest. I can’t help myself. I flex. Her eyes jump back to mine. A surprised expression flits across her face, quickly replaced by a satisfied smirk. “You seem like a rib man.”

Even in the dim light I can see her hazel eyes dancing, and her shoulders bounce with silent humor. She shrugs again and covers her mouth with a hand. My lips curve up. Unable to stop myself, I reach across the table and pull her hand away from her mouth.

The moment I touch her skin, a shock courses through me. Maybe I imagined the spark of electricity between us, but then I hear her breath hitch. The pounding of her heartbeat under my thumb makes my mouth go dry. The warmth from her skin lights up my senses. We stare at each other across the table, the air between us charged. My eyes flick to her lips before quickly bouncing back to her gaze.

I wish we were back in my car so I could press my lips—

“Have you decided on your meals?” At Chloe’s voice, Kit’s eyes sparkle, and a playful expression crosses my face.

“Ladies first.” Lowering our hands to the table, I slowly let my thumb drag across her palm before returning my hand back to my menu. I hear a sharp inhale, and a sense of gratification fills me.

She likes me—more than a little.

My cheeks are sore from smiling. My body is humming. I feel like I’m eighteen again, lost in the eyes of the most beautiful girl in the world.

“So you agree with my meal choices?” Kit’s voice cuts through my thoughts.

“Umm. Huh?” Her eyes dance, and heat creeps up my face.

I don’t like how easy it is for me to be distracted by her. It’s even worse that she knows it.

“I said I’d get the Sparkling Grilled Cheese and you’d have the Dazzling Pot Pie. Is that okay?”

“Wait, I thought you said I should get the Braised Back Rib Glow because I look like a rib man?” I raise a brow and stare at her pointedly.

A snicker and then a cough come from my left, and I see Chloe trying not to laugh at us.

“You do,” Kit smirks, her eyes roaming over my shoulders and chest again. “You definitely do. But I can’t decide which one I want.”

“Oh, wait!” My eyebrows shoot up. And I lean on the table. “Are you picking out my meal based on what you want so you can have mine, too?”

“Well, only some of yours,” she says, a mischievous expression lights her face. Her eyes glimmer in the dim light. “You don’t mind, right?”

Muffled laughter echoes around the restaurant, and I hear a cough that sounds surprisingly like a ‘no’.

I roll my eyes, feeling a bit like my teenage mentee. “Fine. Noooo, I don’t mind.”

I glance at Kit, and the playful grin she has on her face fills me with mirth.

“Do you want anything else, Beau?” Chloe asks. And when I shake my head, her lips lift. “You got it. I’ll put your orders in now.”

“Thank you,” I say, and smirk at Kit. “That was smooth, Garrett.”

“Tell me how you started playing rugby.” She leans both elbows on the table and rests her chin on her palm. “I honestly thought you would end up drafted to the NFL.”

“Nice pivot.” I grin and take a sip of water. “My college roommate, Sam.”

Playing with my water glass, I remember the first time Sam convinced me to play. The game was similar enough to football that I caught on to the rules quickly, but something about it had me hooked from the moment I played my first game. It wasn’t just about the lack of equipment but how you pushed your body. It was different from anything I had ever done before. It quickly became something I wanted to play any chance I got. “He was from Ireland and a huge rugby fan. He’d been needling me about playing American football and how weak I was.”

“Sam sounds like my kind of guy,” Kit teases. My gaze snaps to hers, and for a second, I’m lost in the pools of brown staring back at me. Right now, her eyes are almost the same color as her hair; at least the low lights are giving them that appearance.

Warm and inviting.

“I think the two of you would like each other.” I haven’t talked about this in a long time, but it brings back how disappointed my dad was when he learned I wouldn’t be pursuing a career in football. Kit must notice something because she places her hand on my forearm.

“Everything okay?” She asks, those amber eyes filled with concern.

Heat rushes through me, and my heartstrings tug as I take her in. “It is now,” I say gruffly.

Her eyes darken, and an impish expression rests on my face.

I clear my throat before I start talking. “People in town had high hopes for me being drafted and playing professional football. Don’t get me wrong, so did I.”

“But?” Kit asks softly, her gaze watching me intently, making my pulse thud around my chest like a drummer.

“But I didn’t.” I shrug, the memory of that time consuming me. “I was good, but I wasn’t ‘professional’ good. More than that, though, I’m not sure I wanted it.”

“Okay.” Her head is tilted as she watches me, a question filling her eyes. I know what I’m saying is vague, but it’s the truth. “So how did you start playing professional rugby?”

“When the Ironclad Marauders had tryouts I knew I wanted to play, so I went. I made the cut. And the rest is history.”

“I see.” Kit nods.

“Sometimes life throws you curveballs that lead you in directions you never considered.” Kind of like me being married to the woman sitting across from me. The one woman I never stopped comparing everyone I dated to.

The girl I craved teasing in high school and the person I don’t want to live another day without.

“Kit, your Sparkling Grilled Cheese, and Beau, your Dazzling Pot Pie.” Chloe’s voice breaks the charged silence. “Bon Appetit.” She grins and walks away.

“Woah,” I say as I glance down at my food. The pot pie is ‘dazzling’ as it seems to glow in the dark. Shifting my gaze across the table, I find Kit’s Grilled Cheese literally sparkling. A grin crosses my face. “This is very cool.”

“Do you want a taste?” Kit holds out her fork to me with some grilled cheese. I stare at it, then up at her. She pushes her hand toward me. “I promise you won’t regret it.”

I put my mouth on the fork and take the Grilled Cheese, then close my eyes and groan. “This is possibly the best thing I’ve ever tasted in my entire life.”

Kit beams and my stomach quivers with excitement.

Just like marrying her was the best thing I’ve ever done. Now, I just need to find a way to convince her.