Page 28 of Tiers of Joy

I burst out laughing. Eloise comes to our table with our food, her eyes pinging back and forth between Gaige and I. I roll my eyes and move my hand back from his so she can put our food down.

“Sorry to interrupt. Here’s your food.” She smiles and places our food down. It smells amazing.

“Thank you Eloise, it smells delicious.” I compliment.

“Enjoy you two!” She smiles and walks away.

I look around the bar and notice most of the locals are looking our way and have smiles on their faces.

“Uhh Gaige, I wasn’t aware we were a show for the town.” I point to the bar.

Gaige looks up and shakes his head.

“Ignore them. It’s only because you're still new in town.” He states, tucking into his food.

I look down at my dish: sliced steak placed on top of what looks like chips, cheese, and gravy.

“What's the matter? You a vegetarian?” He asks.

“No, not at all. It just reminds me of chips, cheese, and gravy.” I smile.

“Oh I guess it is in a way. So are you a no carb, only salad type of girl? I can order you something else if you’d like?” He asks.

I burst out laughing.

“Do I look like a salad type of girl? Have you seen the size of my arse?! I'm an eat what I want and cry about it later type of girl.”

Gaige smiles. “Good. Go on then, try it.”

I load my fork up and shovel it into my mouth. Gaige laughs and shakes his head at me.

I roll my eyes and moan.

“Holy flora this is good!” I say while shovelling more into my mouth.

Gaige leans forward and wipes some of the gravy off of my chin. I smile, embarrassed.

“Sorry, I'm a messy eater. I will most likely spill something down my jumper.” I say and grab a napkin.

“Don’t apologise for enjoying your food.” Gaige states, licking my gravy off of his thumb.

We finish the meal and I drink the entire bottle of wine. I feel sleepy and slightly tipsy.

Gaige holds my hand and leads me through the bar and out to his truck. I make him stop at the bar so I can thank the staff for a lovely meal.

I rest my head against the window. My eyes are feeling heavy. Gaige helps me out of the truck and I wobble a little.

“Whoops.” I giggle as I fall into Gaige’s chest. I bump my head into his chin. I lean up on my tip toes and give him a quick kiss.

“There, all better. Your beard tickles. Did you know that?”

“Come on, let’s get you to your bed.” Gaige states, walking me into my apartment.

“Ooo steady now, I'm not that type of girl.” I giggle.

Gaige helps me to my bed where I flop down and kick off my boots.

“Hhmm, so comfy. Thank you for feeding me.” I mumble into my pillow before I fall into a deep sleep.

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