Page 30 of Snow’s Charming (Hope Runs Deep #7)

The Heart of a Man

“ H ey, babe?”

His voice wasn’t exuding its normal confidence.

I quirked a brow as I peered out of the closet where I was hanging my clothes.

“What’s wrong?”

“What shirt and tie go best with my charcoal grey pinstripe?”

I laughed a little at his cute bout of self-consciousness.

He was only asking because he wanted to look good for me.

I loved how into pleasing me he was, but truth be told?

I didn’t care what he was gonna wear. All I wanted was to enjoy our first dinner together on our honeymoon.

But? I couldn’t leave him in this self-conscious funk.

I peered at the choices before responding.

“I like the blue button-down with the tie that has that gorgeous blue and gold pattern to it. You’ll look sharp!”

I stressed the word sharp a little too much for my liking. Probably because I was imagining pulling him by said tie and giving him a kiss. A kiss that’d rock his world before I’d peel that suit off of him.

Tonight would hold a lot of firsts for us, though. And I was nervous about being intimate with him. We’d done things, sure. But we hadn’t gone all the way, and that had me anxious. What if he doesn’t like something I do? Or worse—what if I get a panic attack?

We’d talked about sex before the honeymoon because Sylus wanted me comfortable. He was so easy to talk to, but now that the night was here, I wasn’t as sure as I was all of those nights talking to him.

“I ran into Ciro, and he asked if we were up for meeting him and the Scooby Gang for drinks after dinner. He told me the girls wanted to meet up with their new bestie—or something like that,” said Sylus as he was sliding his pants on.

“That sounds great!”

Yeah, my nerves got the best of me. I said yes so I wouldn’t sweat through dinner stressing over being intimate with him. Ugh! I was being such a wimp, and I knew it, but maybe spending a little time with some potential new gal pals was just what I needed to calm my nerves.

Sylus smiled and extended his arm out to me. I wrapped my arms around him. “Shall we?”

I nodded, and we were out the door and heading to the restaurant.

We had eaten a lot of meals together, but this one was special because it would be the first meal we’d have together as husband and wife.

Technically, the reception was our first, but that was with the pack and didn’t count in my book.

This one would be more intimate, and I couldn’t help but smile at that thought.

Sylus opened the door to the restaurant, and the host guided us to our table and handed us menus.

“Melanie, your server will be with you shortly.” He said to us as he filled our water goblets with a genuine smile.

“Everything sounds delicious on the menu, but I can’t believe the prices. I’m used to the value menu at a fast food place.” I said to Sylus with a chuckle once the host was out of earshot.

“I wanted our first intimate dinner to be special, so please order what you want, princess. It’s not like we can’t afford it.”

“In that case, I’m starting with the shrimp remoulade, followed by the bucatini, the romesco sea bass for the main course, and the crème br?lée for dessert. What are you getting?”

“I think I’m getting the pork paté to start, followed by the lobster bisque. For the main, I want the beef cheek bourguignon, and I’ll end the meal with cheesecake.”

“That sounds delicious.”

“You can have a couple of bites of mine as long as I get to have a couple of yours. ”

“Sounds good to me. I enjoy sharing with you.”

The server came and Sylus placed our order, along with a bottle of C?tes du Rh?ne, for our dinner.

“You remembered the wine you got me for my birthday that I liked!”

He reached for my hand and laced his fingers with mine.

“Of course I would, Sesi. Your favorite wines, foods, well, favorite anything is important to me. And once we take care of the coronation business, I promise to take you to see the Eiffel Tower.”

“Did you know they built the Eiffel Tower with 18,000 iron parts in it?”

Sylus let out a giggle. “You are so darn cute when you talk about Paris—you know that?”

“I started learning as many facts as I could about it once you told me we’d go.

It would mean a lot to me to see it because they made it for the World’s Fair entrance in 1889.

My great-grandparents went to the World’s Fair in 1939 when it was in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, New York.

It’d be great to see the Eiffel Tower to have that connection to them.

I never knew them, except through what my mother told me.

This would make me feel closer to them.”

Sylus reached for my hand once more with both of his and drew it to his lap.

“Then that is what we will do, my princess.”

I smiled as I reached for my glass of wine. A female figure about 20 feet away darted across the tables towards the bathroom, and my heart skipped a beat when I noticed the familiar face. My face paled instantly.

“Baby, what’s wrong?”

“I think I just saw Jackie heading to the bathroom!”

He gave my hand a quick squeeze before responding.

“Baby, that’s nearly impossible. Besides, Ciro assured me he was protecting us this weekend. I asked him for a favor—just in case. However, even if it was her—she can’t hurt us anymore—remember?”

“Yeah. No powers.” I said, waving a hand in the air. “I’m probably letting my imagination run into overdrive.”

Sylus reached for my hand again.

“It’s understandable, babe. She was awful to you. You can’t expect yourself to be all about yourself now and turn off the noise she created for you for the past decade, princess. She was an evil person.”

“I understand. I really do. But why does my mind always race to this? Why can’t I catch a break from all her noise living rent-free in my head?”

“I’m not sure, babe. But since we finished eating, how about we head on over to the club and meet up with Ciro and the rest of the Scooby Gang?”

“I like that idea.”