Page 63 of Failure to Match

It wasn’t the uni, it was me. Daniel continued to place several artfully crafted dishes in front of us, explaining each one in meticulous detail. There’d been well over a handful of them so far and, gun to my head, I wouldn’t have been able to recall a single one.

You want to know why?

Because Jackson’s knee was brushing mine underneath the bar, his hand was draped possessively over the back of my chair, and he wasstillwearing a bow tie. But at least he wasn’t whispering things in my ear anymore?—

I started when my alarm went off, indicating our hour was up. I fumbled with my phone and proceeded to miss the Stop button three times before my unsteady thumb finally found it.

“I’m so sorry,” I said to Daniel as hot embarrassment sprinted up my neck.

He didn’t look impressed. After almost thirty minutes of receiving distracted, half-hearted praises for his world-renowned cooking, my alarm had startled the tin of caviar out of his grip. It’d landed facedown on the grill, sizzling and ruined. “It’s fine.”

Judging from his tone, it wasn’t. I couldn’t believe I’d been so rude, or that I hadn’t thought to turn off the stupid alarm earlier.

Clearing my throat, I offered him a polite smile as he carefully peeled the lid off a fresh gold tin. “I really am sorry,” I pressed. “That was very rude of me. I was just so nervous and excited to meet you that I forgot to turn it off before we sat down.”

Jackson’s knee pressed to mine. I crossed my legs, effectively breaking contact.

Daniel smiled back. Just a little. “Oh yeah?”

“You have no idea.” I leaned in and placed my forearms on the bar, giving him my full attention. When Daniel’s shoulders rose an inch, I forced my smile wider.

“You’re a fan of the show?” he asked.

“Kind of. Season seven is my favorite. You know that episode where they brought Maple in for the first time?”

His eyes twinkled as he nodded. It was working.

Jackson’s knee pressed to my thigh again as he leaned forward. I ignored him; he could have my attention again in a minute. I needed to fix this first.

“Probably my favorite TV moment of all time,” I said. It was so sweet. They’d flown the contestants’ families in for moral support during the tenth episode of the season, but since Daniel’s grandmother—the only living member of his family—was too old to travel halfway across the world, they’d brought Maple in instead. The three-legged, blind golden retriever had trotted onto the set a little nervously at first... until Daniel said her name in shock, a half-second before sinking onto his knees and breaking down into her fur as she whined with uncontainable excitement.

Oh, and attached to her collar was a handwritten letter from Daniel’s grandmother.

There hadn’t been a dry eye in the room. Any room. Anywhere in the world, probably.

Ria and I had lost it. We’d had to rewind the clip three times to actually hear him read the letter out loud, we’d been sobbing so hard.

“Eating at your restaurant in Tokyo is on my bucket list,” I told him, encouraged by his reaction.

He chuckled, sliding two identical sashimi dishes in front of us. “Toro sashimi with beluga caviar.”

This time I forced myself to actually pay attention to the flavors and... yeah, okay. “This is genuinely incredible.”

“That’s Maple’s favorite caviar.” He was all smiles now. Also, I loved the way he saidcaviar. His accent made the word sound utterly exquisite.

“Maple has a favorite caviar?”

He shook his head. “She’s so spoiled now. The last time I tried giving her dry kibbles she wouldn’t even touch it.”

I giggled. “Cute.”

Jackson cleared his throat rather pointedly, and just as I was about to pull him into the conversation, Daniel gestured between us and asked, “So how long have you two been together?”

“Oh, we’re not.”

I said it, and then I regretted saying it. Not because it wasn’t true, but because it could not have tumbled out of me any faster.

Daniel’s eyes slid between us slowly, his smile tilting with confusion.

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