Page 97 of The Charmer

After we sat down, Oliver asked, "Would you like me to serve you some wine?"

"I would like the red," I said, looking at Julian. “I don't even care if it pairs well with what I order. I always prefer red.”

"What the lady wants, the lady gets," Julian said, and I shimmied in my seat for no reason. "And you can pour me some too."

"Right away.” Oliver opened the bottle quickly and poured us a very generous amount. I'd have to make sure I didn't drink it too fast. He then pointed at the table. "These are the menus, and bread’s in the basket."

I immediately grabbed some, as did Julian. I saw a hint of a smile on his lips.

After taking a bite of the roll, I glanced at the menu.

"This all looks so good." I turned to Oliver. "What's your favorite entrée?"

"I might be biased, but I think we make the best jambalaya in the Quarter." He looked at Julian. "My apologies to the chef of LeBlanc & Broussard."

Julian laughed. "Don't worry, Oliver. My lips are sealed. I won't give you away."

I smiled. "If you're such a fan, then I’ll order just that."

"And what would you like for appetizers?" he asked.

I looked at Julian, who deferred again to Oliver. "Surprise us."

"All right. I'm starting to like this evening. It's good to see you," he told Julian. "It's been a while."

After Oliver left, I grinned at Julian. "I love this place. I love, love, love it. All these twinkle lights."

"I had a feeling you’d like them."

"So, what did they do with the other tables?"

Julian frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I assume this is usually open to the public, right?"

"No, there's no rooftop service except specifically for us." He pointed. "Including the twinkle lights."

"Wow. This is so romantic."

"I wanted you all to myself. I like the restaurant downstairs, too, but this feels better. Like exactly what I need." He reached for my hand over the table. "I'm very happy to be here with you tonight."

"So am I."

He was looking at me intently, and I was melting inside. I couldn't keep his gaze for fear that I might say something stupid, so I glanced at the two candles sitting on the table. The jars that held them were very intricately painted.

"I know that this all started... Well, I guess that's always going to be a good story to tell," I said.

He chuckled, and that made me relax, so I finally glanced up at him. "That's true. But the more time I spent with you, the more I realized I wanted you. I didn't care about pretending."

Sweet heavens. I loved where this conversation was going.

I moved my legs under the table, feeling a bit jittery. Julian somehow seemed to know, because he immediately put his legs on the outside of mine, rocking them lightly from one side to the other.

"I've wanted you for a very long time, Georgie. Actually, from the first time I saw you. Everything after that was more or less an excuse."

"That can't possibly be true."

"I swear. You think I couldn't have sent that moron Kyle flying out of my bar any other way? But I thought, 'Hey, here's an opportunity to kiss her.' And before I could think about any pros and cons, I went ahead. My brothers had such a field day with it."

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