Page 98 of The Charmer

"What exactly do they know?"

"Almost everything. Probably what happened at the Marriott too.”

"What? How?" My stomach lurched. Embarrassment crawled up my throat.

"Mom knows. The grandmothers know. But they usually don't share everything with my brothers, so I guess time will tell."

"Goodness. How are you so blasé about this?"

He chuckled. "I've been dealing with my family for a long time. I've learned that it's easier to just roll with the punches. I can't say I mind them getting into my business because I'm also in everyone's business too."

"I like that you aren’t pretentious. I mean, you don't hold yourself to different standards than everyone else. And you could because your family made this town, but you... I don’t know. I guess I’m rambling..." Good God, Georgie, what are you saying?

Julian smiled. "I hate people who do that. Think they’re better than the next guy."

Oliver came through the metal door then, holding a tray with what looked like mussels with baked cheese on top.

"Yum, that looks good," I exclaimed.

"It's our specialty. And we got some excellent cheese in today’s delivery. I'm certain you'll enjoy it. If you want seconds, call me."

"I think we're good," Julian said, and I could only nod.

There were two dozen. No way would we need another round.

"I’ll check back later. You want me to pour more wine?" Oliver offered.

"I'm good." I'd barely taken a few sips.

Julian also shook his head, so Oliver left us alone.

"This looks delicious,” I said.

“I forgot they serve mussels. I usually only come here for a quick lunch, so I never order appetizers."

"How often do you come here?"

He shrugged as we each reached for a mussel. "Not too often. I try to stop by every establishment we own in the Quarter once a month."

"Why?"

"It's just a habit I started and kept. I like feeling the pulse of the Quarter, so to speak, and to people watch. I want people to be happy in our establishments."

"So, you mostly go as a client." Understanding dawned on me. "That's so smart."

"It also gives me a chance to catch up with my brothers if they're there. I mean, Xander never is. He's got an office in the finance district. He's my polar opposite. He can get a sense for how a business is doing just by looking at the numbers. But I need more than that. I need to be in the middle of things."

"Do all of your brothers have offices at one of the locations?"

"Most of them, yeah. And somehow we all ended up in the Quarter, so it's easy to run into one another." He leaned closer. "It's also very difficult to keep secrets."

"Apparently so." I moaned in delight. "These are divine." I realized with shock that I'd already eaten four. "Wow. I thought I was going to feel full after a few."

"Nah. I mean, there's more cheese than actual mussel in it, but I still don't think we're going to need seconds. I wouldn’t recommend it. The main courses are big enough, especially the jambalaya."

“So...” I tried to gather my courage to ask what I couldn't when he'd first asked me out, but my words fizzled. I was very nervous all of a sudden.

I took a bigger sip of wine and then ate another mussel, checking to see if my courage had returned. Nope. So I took a few more sips of wine. That seemed to help more than the mussels.

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