Page 102 of With Wine Comes War

Alex squinted her eyes, whipping her head in my direction. “What’s going on?”

She looked nervous and I said, while laughing, “I didn’t do this, don’t worry.” She was scanning the entire restaurant looking nervous as hell. Was she really that worried I was going to ask her to marry me or something? They brought us to a cozy table by the fireplace and the waitstaff were already there, opening the champagne.

As we sat down the waiter handed us each a glass and said, “Enjoy.”

***

ALEX

I looked around everywhere to see if this was a surprise party that someone was putting on for me. What exactly would the party be for though, it’s not my birthday and Roman assured me it had nothing to do with him. I didn't know if I should believe him or not.

He held up his glass of champagne and said, “Cheers to no more fears.”

I laughed, thinking this was starting to scare me.

“I’ll drink to that. But you’re going to have to tell me what’s going on.”

He checked his phone and smiled then put it back in his pocket.

“You’ll find out in about five minutes,” he informed me.

“Why five minutes?”

He shook his head. “You can wait five minutes. I’m not going to tellyou.”

“Why don’t we have menus?” This whole thing is so weird.

“That I don’t know.” With that, the waitstaff brought out some bread and olive oil with herbs for dipping. Another waiter came over and asked if there is anything else we’d like to drink.

Yes, I definitely need a strong drink.

“A Grey Goose martini, up, with blue cheese stuffed olives, if you have them.”

The waiter replied, “If we don’t, we’ll make them for you, Ms. Kennedy.”

“Don’t go to any trouble for them, please.”

The waiter smiled and said, “For you, Ms. Kennedy, it will be no trouble.”Why so formal and why would I get special treatment in a place I’ve never been before?I’ll be recommending this place to everyone. I looked at Roman like he had two heads.

“You’ve got to tell me what’s going on. I feel like I’m one of those Punked shows.”

He laughed and mumbled, “Now you know how I feel.”

“What did you say?”What is wrong with him?

“Nothing.” He smiled, taking a sip of his champagne.

After they brought our drinks and some appetizers I whined, “Five minutes is definitely up.” That’s when I got tapped on the shoulder and pulled into a big, very familiar, hug. I pushed away a little and saw Grant.

“Did you do this?” I was shocked, because how did he know?

“I did some of it. Roman did the rest.” He said as he kissed my cheek. He left his arm wrapped around my shoulder.

“How could you have known?”

Grant started laughing, and Roman took a big sip of his drink and looked away.

“This is my restaurant,” he revealed. My mouth hit the floor, and I looked back and forth between Roman and Grant.

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