Page 68 of Mine

She groaned, shoved her face into the pillow, and gave me a muffled, “Don’t judge me.”

“I’m not. I just... I’ve never been jealous of carbohydrates before.”

That made her laugh a sleepy, scratchy kind of laugh, and when she turned back to face me, her eyes were still puffy with sleep.

“You’re still here,” she said, like it surprised her.

“Yeah.” I paused. “I overslept.”

She smirked. “You overslept?”

“I know. It’s disgusting. I’m filing a complaint with my internal clock.”

“You slept.” It was less of a question and more of a declaration.

“Yeah,” I nodded, which made her smile.

“What time is it?” She asked as she sat up and let the blanket fall off her naked body.

Reluctantly, I glanced at the clock. “Almost noon.”

“Shit,” she groaned, flopping back against the mattress. “I have to work tonight.”

I leaned over her, bracing my arms on either side of her head. “Me too. But I was thinking we should grab some lunch before I head back to Atlanta. I made Marshal give me the keys to the SUV before I sent them away last night”

Her brows lifted. “Lunch? Wait, you drive?”

“Yes I drive,” I poked her, making her laugh. “And yes, we need some lunch. But not Marco’s. I think I should be the only one making you moan for the duration of this marriage.”

I wasn’t sure how we managed to get out of the house, much less make it to a diner in the middle of Harmony Haven. It felt like a miracle, especially considering all I really wanted to do was stay home and replay every second of what we’d done the night before.

“You must love it here,” the waitress said to Blue as she dropped off our menus and walked off.

I glanced across the booth at her, lifting a brow.

She just shrugged. “This is where I had lunch with Dad yesterday.”

“You should’ve told me, I would’ve switched it up for you.”

She leaned forward and tucked her hair behind her ear like she wasn’t even aware she was about to ruin my entire afternoon with that move. “Actually, this is perfect,” she said. “I had a burger yesterday, but what I really wanted was the steak. So today I’ll get the prime rib, you know, since you’re paying.” She added a silly wink but it somehow made her look even sexier. .

“I should’ve paid yesterday,” I said, folding my hands and leaning across the table, unable to stop the grin spreading across my face. “That card I gave you doesn’t have a limit, Mrs. Brooks.”

She fluttered her lashes, all mock innocence. “Well, lucky for you, my dad treated me yesterday. So your bank account got a break.”

I laughed and leaned back, catching her hand in the middle of the table and weaving my fingers through hers. The waitress reappeared just then, asking if we were ready to order. I hadn’t even looked at the damn menu, but that didn’t seem to matter.

I smiled at her, catching the quick flash of recognition in her eyes. She didn’t say anything, didn’t fumble. Just waited patiently as I held up two fingers.

“We’ll both have the prime rib.”

She scribbled the order down, and then glanced at Blue to make sure I’d gotten it right.

“With a baked potato,” Blue added, earning a nod from the waitress before her eyes bounced back to me.

“Baked potato for you as well?” she asked.

“Perfect,” I said, giving her the kind of smile that usually made people nervous.