Page 206 of Seeds of Malice

Avery motions to me. "After you."

There's only one bench for the booth. The other side is a wall, ensuring privacy. Candles flicker on the table.

I slide into it, and Avery sits next to me.

The host sets the menus down.

"We don't need those," Avery states.

"No?" he questions.

"No. We'll have two glasses of chocolate pinot noir and the carrot cake. Right, Ivy?"

I grin. "Carrot cake's my favorite."

"Good. It's to die for here," she claims.

The host laughs. "Well then, I'll tell your server."

"Great, thanks." Avery scoots closer and turns toward me.

Peter walks away.

I stare at the wall and then gaze past Avery. There are no other booths around.

My butterflies take off again, and I inhale her scent deeply. "This is a nice place. Very, um, quaint," I say, searching for the word.

"It's rather romantic. Don't you think?"

An uncomfortable feeling fills me. "Yes."

Disapproval fills her expression. "I can't believe Dax hasn't brought you here."

"Well, he's taken me to many places," I say, defending him.

"I know, but he should have brought you here by now. Don't worry, I'll tell him to," she adds.

A server comes over and sets two huge wine glasses down. Chocolate oozes over the rim and runs down the sides. Pinot noir fills half the glass.

He leaves.

Avery holds her glass up. "To us."

"To us," I repeat, clink her glass, and take a sip, moaning. The pinot noir hits the chocolate perfectly and explodes on my tongue. I swallow and add, "Wow, this is so good."

"You have to keep drinking. It gets better," she claims and takes another large sip.

I do as well, and a buzz fills me again. It's the same feeling I felt at the sorority house.

"There's nothing like a little hair of the dog," Avery chirps.

I set my glass down. "Maybe I shouldn't be drinking after how drunk I got."

"You weren't that drunk," she claims.

"How was I not that drunk? I slept for several days."

She shrugs. "There's a nasty twenty-four-hour virus going around. You probably caught it, and that's why the mimosa hit you so hard. But you obviously were exhausted and needed to rest. And I'm sorry again for my brother. Dax had no right to take you out of there like that."

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