Page 108 of Renewal After Dark

While wishing he’d thought to buy some wineglasses for her, he glanced up at her, brow raised at the romantic gesture.

She shrugged. “I found it in the closet.”

“It’s nice.”

“I’m glad you think so.”

“Never had dinner with a candle on the table.”

“No?”

He scooped potatoes onto both plates. “Nope.”

“Well, you’ve been missing out.”

“I can see that. Also never seen anything prettier than you are in candlelight.”

As soon as he said the words, he felt like a fool.

“That’s the most romantic thing anyone has ever said to me.”

He scoffed. “Come on. No way.”

She looked at him with those big brown eyes gone liquid with emotion. “Way.”

“Well, that’s a crying shame, because you deserve it all.”

After that, he focused on the meal because it was far too overwhelming to focus on her when she was looking at him like he hung the moon or some other such bullshit. What did he know about hanging moons or waxing poetic?

He stabbed a bite of chicken and chewed it roughly. She was making him into a goddamned fool, and that wouldn’t do. After they ate, he was going home to where things made sense. If he tried really hard, he might be able to forget the goddess occupying his garage apartment.

“Why do you seem mad all of a sudden?”

“Huh?” Duke looked up at her, feeling exposed, as if he were sitting there stark naked. He might as well have been. “I’m not mad.”

“Yes, you are. It’s because you said stuff to me that made you uncomfortable after you said it.”

He paused, fork halfway to his mouth. “What’s that you say?”

“You said something sweet and romantic, and then you decided it was stupid, so you got mad at the chicken. But it wasn’t stupid. It was… It was one of the best moments of my life, and you can’t take it back because that would break my heart.”

“Goddamn it,” he muttered as he let the fork fall to his plate with a loud clank. “Why you gotta put it like that?”

“It’s true. No one’s ever said anything like that to me before.”

“Well, that’s a crying shame.”

“Don’t be mad at yourself for being the first.”

“I’m not.”

“You are. Why?”

“You freaking undo me with the way you look at me and how open and honest you are about everything.”

“Oh, well… I suppose that’s not abadthing, right?”

“I’m still trying to decide.”

---