I rolled to my side and brushed the hair from his forehead. “He’s human.”
He closed his eyes. “I know. But that’s a concern for later, if there even is a later.” He searched my eyes and smiled. “Promise not to ask me again.”
“Nope, not gonna happen. You’re my priority, as you’ve always been. I will never stop checking in on you.”
“I know.”
Closing my eyes, I leaned in to press my forehead to his, my hand cupping the back of his head so he couldn’t run away. “You know I love you, right?”
“Yeah, babe, I know.”
Hearing him call me babe made me smile. He’d been doing that a lot lately, and every time he said it, I felt like everything would be okay.
“I love you, too. Now go woo your maybe-boyfriend,” he said a minute later. I snorted and opened my mouth to ask if he was alright again, but he cut me off. “I swear to the gods, if you ask me one more time, I’m gonna strangle you with a vine.”
I chuckled and leaned away, but not before I pressed a kiss to his forehead. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Have a good time. Try not to make a fool of yourself. Or no more a fool than usual.”
“You’re so good at pep talks, Iz.” I shot him the finger before grabbing my phone and slipping out the door, leaving a chuckling Isiah behind.
Chapter 8
Lazarus
Shaking out my hands, I reached for the door since someone had knocked. Even though I was expecting it, the sight of Raph dressed up for our date took my breath away. From the smirk on his face, I was sure he knew it.
“Hey, sexy,” he said before leaning in to press a quick kiss to my cheek.
I blinked in surprise. “Um, hey, Raph.”
His smile grew as he pulled a bouquet from behind his back. “For you.”
I stood there dumbly for a few seconds, then met his eyes. “You bought me flowers?”
A flash of uncertainty went through his eyes, but the confident smile never left his face. “I did. This is a date, isn’t it?”
Nodding, I accepted them and cleared my throat after sniffing them. “These are beautiful, Raph. Thank you.”
He nodded.
“Do you want to come in while I put them in water?”
“Sure.” He stepped inside and followed me into the kitchen, but he stayed back, leaning against the door jamb. “How was work today?”
The simple question took me by surprise. I didn’t know what to expect for today, but I’d had the feeling he was only trying to get in my pants. The fact he hadn’t yet was throwing me off, but in a good way. Not that I would’ve minded if he’d come in and threw me against a wall, but trying for dating, trying to build something real, that was what I truly wanted. Maybe we could save the sex for after our date.
I filled a vase with water while I answered. “It was okay. Not great since most people are preparing for Thanksgiving, and a lot of people wait for the weekend sales to buy things, but I had a few customers. I was able to go through a lot of new inventory, though, so that was nice.”
“That’s good.”
As I set the vase with the flowers in it on the counter, I offered him a smile. “It is. Where are we going for dinner?”
“I made a reservation at that Italian place you always talk about.”
“Armani’s?” I asked in surprise.
“That’s the one.” He stuffed his hands in his front pockets. “When we were staying here last year, you always talked about how you wished you could eat there more often because their food is delicious, so I thought you might like it.” He shrugged and rocked on his heels. “If you don’t want to go there, we can go somewhere else, though.”
Seeing him unsure made me hide a smile. He seemed just as nervous as I was about this, and somehow, knowing that set my nerves at ease. “Armani’s is perfect. I can’t believe you remembered that.”
“I do listen when you talk to me, you know.”
I snorted. “Uh-huh.”
“What? I do.”
A small laugh bubbled free, but I shook my head, saying, “Let’s go before we miss our reservation, then.”
He waved me through the doorway, but before I got too far, he grabbed my hand and squeezed for only a few seconds. Then he released me with a grin and followed me out the door and to his car.
We made small talk on the drive there, Raph tapping a beat on the steering wheel as we went. Another nervous tick that made me relax. By the time we got to the restaurant, I was feeling a little better, but the butterflies in my stomach were flapping fiercely.
Raph took my hand again, this time lacing our fingers together, and led me inside. We were seated right away, so Raph had to release my hand to sit across the small table. I missed the connection immediately, but managed to keep a smile on my face.
As soon as the hostess left, I said, “I already know I’m getting the shrimp scampi.”
Raph grinned. “Yeah? That your favorite food or something?”
“One of them, yeah. But definitely my favorite here. It’s delicious.” I was about to suggest he get some, too, but then I realized he was a vegetarian, and I asked instead, “Will it bother you that I’m eating shrimp?”
He shook his head. “Not at all. Honestly, Izzy’s the one that got me on this vegetarian diet thing. I’d probably still be eating meat, otherwise.”
“Why doesn’t he like meat? I never asked if it was a health thing or what.”
“He, uh, can’t stand the thought of eating something that used to be breathing. He says he doesn’t like cooking, uh, blood.” Raph wrinkled his nose. “Okay, maybe he’s rubbed off on me more than I thought because saying that out loud is gross.”
I snorted. “Well, I eat meat, and that sounds gross put that way to me, so I don’t blame you.”
He chuckled and closed his menu. “They have a veggie pasta dish that sounds really good. And maybe we can get some of that tiramisu for dessert?”
My eyes widened. “You remember that?”
He sent me a soft smile. “Yeah, baby, I remember.”
“But… we talked about our favorite desserts—”
“The night we met. Yeah, I remember. I think it was between rounds two and three, if I remember correctly.”
I swallowed hard as I nodded. “Yeah, ‘cause that’s when you tried to order some to my room.”
“But they didn’t have any, so we settled on chocolate cake.” He sent me a huge smile, then reached across the table to take my hand.
Our waiter came for our orders, and Raph held my hand the entire time we were ordering, which was a little awkward, if I was being honest. But in some strange way, it was like he was claiming me in front of a stranger, which gave me a small thrill.
After the waiter left, Raph rubbed his thumb over my knuckles, staring at the table for several seconds before meeting my eyes and saying, “I regretted not getting your number when I left the next morning.”
Taking a breath, I admitted, “I regretted not giving it to you.”
“I went back.”