Page 41 of Taming Grumpy Dr. Beast

Dean glanced at me sideways in surprise before a wide grin slowly stretched across his face. I sent him a glare and shook my head before he said something about my uncharacteristic behavior.

The waitress arrived and took our food and drink order.

“We’d also like to sign up for trivia,” Dean said to our waitress.

“No way.” He had to be kidding.

The bastard smiled mischievously. “It’ll be fun.”

I scowled at Dean. A movement out of the corner of my eye had me turning to face Lily.

She ducked her head and tapped quickly at the screen of her phone before putting it down on the table.

The waitress took our menus. “Be sure to fill out your team name and info there.” She pointed to the electronic screen on our table. “And put your phones in the basket at the center when we start. The emcee will go over the rules at the beginning, but not looking at your phones while we play is the biggest one.”

“Got it,” Paul smiled an affirmative to the waitress.

I didn’t miss the slight grunt that came from Ms. Ketill to my right. I turned my attention to her, not missing the slightly narrowed look she sent Paul’s way before she asked Lily a question. Interesting.

“Can you tell us the theme tonight?” Lily asked, tapping the trivia game screen she’d pulled up in front of her.

“Oh, it’s one of my favorites, The Beatles.” The waitress looked past us for a moment before responding again. “I’ll be sure to put in your order right away. And I’ll be by to check in with you before your food arrives to see if you need anything.” She smiled before moving around our table to greet a new group of customers that had just sat down.

“I’ve always loved the Beatles.” Ms. Ketill gave us what I could only interpret as a swoony smile, and her hand fluttered around her chest. I’d never seen her go gaga like this.

“I didn’t even know you liked them,” I said, surprised.

She shrugged. “You don’t knoweverythingabout me, Jaxon.”

“What about you, Lily? Do you like them?” Dean asked.

I knew he was only trying to include her in the conversation, but why did he have to talk to her? His years of dealing with finicky board members and customers gave him that perpetual edge of making people feel comfortable around him. I knew this, but it still rankled me. I laid my arm across the back of Lily’s chair. Not that she noticed, but everyone else around the table sure seemed to.

“Kind of. I’m a fan by proxy, my father is actually a huge fan. Everything I know about the Beatles I learned from him.” Lily’s eyes lit up in excitement.

I groaned internally. I enjoyed their music and could probably answer most common knowledge questions, but a whole night about them? “Is anyone else besides Ms. Ketill a real fan?”

Paul and Dean shook their heads.

“I might not be a big fan, but I know a lot about them,” Lily stated.

I patted her hand. “I’m sure you do.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You don’t believe me?”

“I believe that you know facts about the Beatles, but usually nights like this have questions only the true fans will know.”

She took a sip of the beer the waitress had just dropped off. “Want to bet?”

I sat up straighter. “Is that a challenge?”

She shrugged. “Sure. What shall we wager?”

“One hundred dollars,” Dean suggested.

“Two hundred,” Paul jumped in.

Lily tapped the bottom of her plump lip with her pointer finger. “Let’s make it interesting. If I can answer all the questions correctly, you pay me five hundred dollars.”