Page 34 of Dreaming of You

"The bread is amazing," Barrett told her, as he grabbed a hunk and dipped it in the olive oil.

She followed suit and had to admit he was right again. "Delicious," she agreed. "I love warm bread fresh out of the oven."

"Nothing better. Although, I did realize on our way over here that we had pizza last night, so it's a double dose of Italian for you."

"I love Italian. How could I not, living so close to North Beach? And I'm very intrigued in San Francisco's best-kept secret."

"I don't think you'll be disappointed."

"I'm sure I won't be." She'd no sooner finished speaking when Sonny accompanied the waiter to their table, delivering a large salad to share, along with two steaming plates of pasta and vegetables covered with a garlic parmesan sauce.

"Enjoy," Sonny said.

"I definitely will," she promised, immediately twirling long strands of linguine on her fork, and popping the first delicious bite into her mouth. "Oh, my God. This is fantastic."

Barrett smiled. "I thought you'd like it."

They didn't talk for a while, content to eat in comfortable silence. When they did speak, it was about light, inconsequential things such as movies, books, and the city. They found to their mutual surprise that they did actually have a few things in common. They both liked reading mysteries and sailing on the bay, as well as eating lobster tails on Fisherman's Wharf.

Of course, they also had their differences. Barrett didn't share her love of cable cars, preferring to drive, instead of taking a steep, slow ride up a hill. She didn't share his love of running along the Marina out to the Golden Gate Bridge. And the bicycle she rode was in a spin class at the gym, while Barrett preferred the long winding trails down the coast.

"I'm beginning to realize you're quite the outdoorsman," she commented, as they sipped coffee and nibbled on both tiramisu and cannolis.

"I like to eat, so I need to work it off."

"Which you like to do outside."

"We live in California. We should take advantage of the great weather."

"I like the weather. I just enjoy looking at the bay from a boat or a restaurant with a view." She paused. "Speaking of restaurants, this place is really special. I'm glad you brought me here."

"Happy to share it with you. But I have to say, you're not a very considerate dinner partner. Most of the women I know leave half their plate for me to finish."

She grinned at his teasing comment. "Not me. I also love food, as you can probably tell."

"You can have the last cannoli."

"I couldn't possibly. I'm stuffed. Go ahead."

"I think I'm done." He pushed his dessert plate away and rested his arms on the table. "This was nice. We can apparently get along without arguing."

"We seem to do better outside the office. I guess it's easier for us to forget that what we each do for a living contradicts the other."

"I don't know. We're just working on different ends of a life experience, that's all." He stopped abruptly, sitting back in his chair, as a stunning redhead walked over to the table. "Vanessa," he murmured.

Vanessa? His ex-wife Vanessa?

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