by Maise, Ella
She pulled back a little, but we were still huddled together as we looked into each other’s eyes as if in a challenge. Her brows drew together before she whispered back, “What are you talking about? How can I be avoiding you when I’m sitting right next to you? What’s wrong with you?”
She straightened up, took another small bite from her plate, and started the slow chewing process again. I leaned closer and my lips got dangerously close to her neck, so much so that I got more intimate with her smell. A fresh flowery scent mixed with a fruit, maybe citrus. “I…” It took me a moment to remember what I was going to say and I faltered. “Just relax a little. Don’t you like your appetizer?”
I pulled back, and this time she leaned toward me.
“I’m not a big fan of seafood. Is it too obvious?”
After a quick glance at everyone else around the table to make sure we didn’t have their attention, I turned my body completely toward Rose and put my arm around her chair again. My chest rubbed against her shoulder. I thought she would flinch or even pull away, but this time she stayed put. We were supposed to be newlyweds. As much as I was trying my best to stay away from her when it was just the two of us, while around other people, I knew we needed to act more intimate if we wanted to seem believable as a couple. “Yes, Rose. The whole menu is seafood—why didn’t you say something?”
“It’s a prix fixe menu—I didn’t think we could change anything.”
“Doesn’t mean you have to eat something you don’t like.” Still keeping my arm on her chair, I looked around the restaurant. “Stop forcing yourself to eat.” Not finding who I was looking for, I drew back from Rose, even managing to push my chair back a bit before she put her palm on my thigh. I paused and we both looked down to her hand on my slacks with surprise. She immediately pulled it back. That was a good decision. That was a really good decision.
In the spur of the moment, surprising myself and her, I believe, I leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss on her cheek. It was something a husband would do before leaving the table. Her eyes widened slightly, just like it did when I’d complimented her, but she managed to keep it together.
I rose.
“Something wrong, Jack?” Fred asked, looking up at me.
“Please continue,” I said to the table. “I’ll be right back.”
It only took me a minute to track down someone who could change our order. Even though the restaurant only offered set menus the elite of New York couldn’t stop talking about, with just the right amount of persuasion, they agreed to make a slight change just this once. When I got back to our table and sat down, Samantha and George were deep into their conversation with Wes while Rose was chatting with Fred, her cheeks flushed.
“Everything okay?” I asked, curious to hear what they were talking about.
“You didn’t tell me she was related to the Colesons’, Jack. Gary had been with us for what five years? I didn’t even know about her.”
Rose gave me an apologetic look.
“I only lived with them till I was eighteen. After that we didn’t see each other as much. Holidays and a random lunch or dinner every month or so. Gary was very busy with his firm and well, his own kids.”
“It didn’t come up,” I explained briefly, wanting to end the conversation.
“Is that how you two met?”
Rose gave me a look I couldn’t understand, but looked a lot like told you so, then turned back to Fred. “Yes. Well, kind of.”
When the waiter came and started to collect the mostly empty dishes, Samantha piped up, taking advantage of the lull in their conversation with Wes. “When are we going to hear the proposal story? That’s what I’m waiting for.”
“Proposal?” Wes asked.
“Jack and Rose just got married,” George explained. “Only a few weeks ago, I believe, right? It was a surprise to everyone in the firm.”
Wes looked from me to Rose. “Congratulations! I had no idea. We should’ve ordered champagne to celebrate.”
“Thank you. We’re just getting used to it ourselves. It happened so fast. I mean we fell for each other so fast,” Rose said.
“Give us all the details,” Fred chimed in. “So we can overlook the fact that none of us were invited to the wedding.”
Rose laughed then turned to look at me. “See, Jack, how nice—everyone wants to hear the proposal story.” When I just stared into her sparkling eyes, her smile tightened and she turned back to Fred. “Oh, I couldn’t. If I started, I’m afraid I wouldn’t stop. I have no brakes when it comes to talking about Jack.” She turned to me and patted my arm, a little too hard if you asked me. Trying to hide my smile, I licked my lips and reached for my whiskey as she said, “And this is a work dinner so I wouldn’t want to take over.”
“Nonsense,” Samantha pushed. “We have plenty of time to talk about work. Jack, however, is a complete mystery when it comes to his private life. We’re dying to hear anything you’re willing to share.”
Leaning back, I kept silent and waited to see how she would get herself out of this.
Rose sent another pleading yet angry look my way. “His proposal was actually very special to me, so if it’s okay, I’d like to keep that between us. That said, I’m sure Jack wouldn’t mind telling you how we met.” My hand was resting on the table when Rose covered it with her own and patted it twice. “Right, honey?”
The waiter returned with the second course—more seafood.
Her hand seemed a little cold, or maybe it was just her nerves, but her ring bit into my skin. She had finally worn it without me having to prompt her. Turning my hand over, my palm against hers, I linked our fingers together and our eyes met again. I didn’t realize it wouldn’t escape everyone’s notice and they would look at me in shock.
“It’s not as exciting as you’re all thinking,” I warned. “I made a complete fool of myself and it somehow worked on her.”
“Oh, now you have to give us more than that.” Samantha placed her hand on my forearm. “Especially after saying the cold and calculated Jack Hawthorne made a fool of himself.”
I reached for my whiskey with my left hand, getting rid of Samantha’s touch in the process. “If Wes doesn’t mind taking a little break from talking about work—”
Wes cut in before focusing on the plate in front of him. “Of course. Please go on.”
After everyone’s seafood dishes were served, another waiter came over and leaned between Fred and Rose to place a different one in front of her. It was larger and fuller than the other plates he had just delivered. “Creamy steak fettucine with shiitake mushrooms,” he explained quietly, only for Rose’s ears.
Her surprised gaze flew to mine. I wasn’t sure if she was aware of it, but her fingers tightened around mine and she softly said, “Jack, you didn’t have to say anything. I’m the only one who—”
When I was served the same pasta dish as her, she didn’t finish her sentence, instead giving me a big smile that reached her tired eyes for the first time since we’d walked into the restaurant. She mouthed a silent thank you.
My eyes dropped to her smile and I had to let go of her hand or otherwise... “A better option than seafood, I hope.”
“This is perfect, really. Thank you.”
Fred broke into our little conversation. “Come on, you’ve been whispering all night with each other. You’ll have plenty of time to flirt with each other once you leave here. Tell the story, Jack.”
“I already told you it’s not that exciting, certainly not exciting as your story with Evelyn.”
Fred turned to Wes. “He’s probably right. The first time we met, my wife, who is also a lawyer, threatened to put me in jail, and she almost managed it, too.”
“Oh, I’d love to hear about that,” Rose cut in, most likely trying to get them to stop talking about us so we wouldn’t have to come up with a lie. I had no intentions of lying, at least not about the entire thing. Also, I was curious about what her reaction would be.
“I
saw her at last year’s Christmas party the Colesons were throwing at their place. If I’m not mistaken, you were also there, right George?” I asked.
George paused with his fork in the air and frowned, trying to recall the night. “Wasn’t that when Gary called us to talk about one of the startups he was considering buying? It was after Christmas, though, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, right after.”
“I remember the night. I thought you left before me, right after the meeting.”
I nodded. “I was about to.” I met Fred’s eyes since he was the one who was the most curious about how Rose and I had met, and Rose looked just as interested in hearing it. “I was at their place before you, and I think Rose arrived seconds before me. Gary briefly introduced us before we went up to his office to wait for you. At the end of the meeting, I left George with Gary and went downstairs. It was pretty crowded, actually, so I was trying to get out as quickly as possible. Then my eye caught something in the kitchen and I stopped.”
Rose’s eyebrows crept up, waiting for the rest. Did she remember the night?
I looked away from her. “I couldn’t walk away. Of all the things she could have been doing at a Christmas party, she was playing with a puppy, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. I watched for a minute or two, trying to decide if I should talk to her again or not. Introduce myself again or not. Then a little boy came and took the puppy from her, and she finally came out of the kitchen.” That was where I had to change my story.
“And did you talk to her?” Samantha asked, clearly into it.
“Yes, I did. I told her I wanted us to get married.” Everyone at the table started laughing. My eyes slid to Rose. “She didn’t say yes, of course. I tried everything I could think of, but it didn’t look like she was going to budge.”
Rose’s confusion disappeared and her smile grew. “He really did try, maybe a little too hard, and the entire time he was so serious, so confident, not even a hint of a smile on his face,” she added, joining in telling our made-up story.
I placed my hand on her back and then changed my mind, pulled it back. “She thought I was insane, kept saying it over and over.”
Rose looked around the table. “Who wouldn’t? But I couldn’t walk away, either. As much as I wasn’t taking him seriously, I think anyone would be insane to just walk away from Jack.” She paused. “My husband.”
I took a long sip of the whiskey in front of me. “I wasn’t planning on letting you.” I cleared my throat and avoided her gaze. “I was sure if I came up with the right offer, she’d at least say she’d consider it, but she turned me down each time. Eventually, she agreed to give me her number, but I’m afraid it was just so I would leave her alone. I took out my phone while standing right next to her and called to make sure she wasn’t giving me a fake one. The next day, I called her, and we started talking.”
“He grew on me.” Rose looked at me while she spoke. “He was so different than what I thought he would be. I didn’t know how to act around him.”
“And?” Samantha prompted. “That’s it?”
I turned to Samantha. “If you think I’m going to tell you what happened every day after that—”
“There’s the Jack we know and love.” Samantha shook her head. “God, you got married! I still can’t wrap my mind around it.”
“Be ready to tell this story from the very beginning to Evelyn, too. I’m not going to ruin it for her. You have to finish your sentences as you look into each other’s eyes, too, just like you did now. She lives for this stuff, and she’ll be very pleased to hear that you’re happy, Jack.”
After that, the table slid back into easy conversation as Rose and I mostly stayed silent. Once she had finished her plate, I leaned down to ask if it had been okay just so everyone would think we were having our own private conversation apart from them, like a newly married couple who were very much in love would do, but that was only once. Toward the end of the dinner, after dessert was served and the evening was finally winding down, Samantha spoke up.
“Rose, I’m sorry we ignored you all night. So, tell us more about yourself. Are you working?”
I sent Samantha a warning look, which she completely ignored.
“I’m getting ready to open my own coffee shop,” Rose answered.
“Oh, really? A coffee shop—how cute. Where is it?”
“Madison Avenue.”
“When is the opening?”
“Monday, hopefully. Everything is mostly done, thanks to Jack, of course.”
Surprised, I glanced at Rose, and she gave me a small smile.
“Jack?” Samantha marveled. “What did he do?”
“Apart from handling all the official stuff, he’d been dropping by after work and helping with the things I couldn’t do by myself.”
Giving me a curious look, Samantha propped her head on her hand and leaned forward. “What has he done so far?”
As I turned the whiskey glass on the table, Rose’s eyes slid to me and then back to Samantha. “He painted the walls and helped me move some heavy things around.”
“Wow. Jack painted?”
“Samantha,” I said flatly, giving her a second warning.
“What?” she returned. “I’m making conversation. You can’t have her all to yourself. So, Rose, why didn’t you hire professionals to deal with that stuff?”
“I have a budget, so I’m taking on the things I can do on my own.”
“Jack, why are you not helping your wife with the money rather than offering her actual labor?”
I got as far as opening my mouth to cover for Rose, but she beat me to it. “Because his wife wants to do this on her own. Jack is respecting that, and him offering his help with the manual labor stuff means more to me than if he would have just thrown money at it to get things done. I’m a little old-fashioned like that, I think. It also means we get to spend more time together while working.”
I hid my brief smile by taking a sip of my drink. So she wasn’t afraid to show her claws when she was pushed. That was one of the things I liked about her. Only one of the things. I’d provoked her too many times and had been on the receiving end of her fierceness.
“Jack Hawthorne, the brilliant lawyer painting a coffee shop.” Samantha laughed. “I wish I could’ve seen that. I’m afraid marriage is already not agreeing with you, Jack.”
Surprising me for the second time, Rose looped her arm around mine and rested her chin on my shoulder. This time it was my turn to stiffen, but Rose ignored it and kept her eyes on Samantha. I downed my whiskey.
“You really think so? Please don’t take this the wrong way, Samantha. I’m sure you two had a great time while you were together—I mean, how could you not? Just look at him—but I’m very glad you actually don’t know Jack the way I do. I know he is a private person—that wouldn’t be a surprise to anyone, I don’t think—but boy am I relieved he is only like this with me. You’re gorgeous, but I guess I’m the lucky one who got the big prize.”
I started coughing and reached for some water.
George cleared his throat across the table.
“Rose, I hope you’ll join us again another night, when Evelyn will be there, too,” Fred interrupted, trying to cut the tension.
Rose turned to him, her face softening. “I’d love to. I’m looking forward to meeting her.”
While she fell into an easy conversation with Fred, I took the opportunity to focus on Samantha. I didn’t care who could hear us. “Ease off.”
With a smile on her face, she leaned closer. “What are you talking about? I’m just getting to know your wife.”
My lips tightened. “You’re pissing me off, Samantha. That’s all you’re accomplishing here, and I think you already know I’m the last person you want to anger. Don’t play games with me.”
“Oh come on, Jack. Don’t be so touchy. She is adorable, the complete opposite of what I’d expect you would go for, but then again, I wouldn’t expect you to ever get married in the f
irst place. At least it seems like she loves you.”
I leaned my elbows on the table, but Wes’ voice stopped me before I could say anything else.
“I think I’m ready to call it a night. If you’ll have the contract ready on Monday, we’ll make it official.”
When he stood up, everyone else followed his lead. George was the first to shake his hand. Rose stood up as well but chose to wait on the sidelines. As I was talking to Wes, telling him he wouldn’t regret his decision, I saw Rose discreetly run her hands over her bare arms. I looked at Samantha and noticed she was wearing a long-sleeved dress. As warm as it was inside the restaurant, Rose’s dress was still not appropriate for the temperature, inside or outside.
Separating myself from the group, I walked back to Rose’s side and took off my jacket, gently draping it over her shoulders.
She looked over her shoulder in surprise. “Jack, you don’t have to—”
“You’re cold. I’m not,” I said, trying to keep it simple. After a brief hesitation I put my hand on the small of her back and guided her out of the private area and into the brightly lit main dining room as the others followed us. Rose pulled my suit jacket tighter around herself and didn’t make any other comments. As we were all waiting for our cars in the entryway, I took Rose’s thin coat and draped it over my arm.
“It’s cold outside,” she muttered quietly as she leaned her shoulder against mine so the others wouldn’t hear. She started to shrug my jacket off, but I put it back over her shoulders. My hand covering hers in the process.
Our gazes held for a moment as I had to search for the right words. “I’m fine, Rose.”
As Raymond was the first to pull up at the front of the restaurant, we said our last goodbyes and headed out into the cold then got into the car.
“Mr. Hawthorne, Mrs. Hawthorne.”
Rose sighed. “Hello, Raymond.”
We all fell silent.
I was going through my schedule for the next day in my mind when Rose’s voice interrupted me only a few minutes into our ride.
“Well?” she asked quietly, giving me an expectant look.
“Well,” I repeated, not understanding what she was asking.