Page 22 of Desirous

“This isn’t a fucking date! It’s a reality TV show pretend date between two people competing against one another who have to playact like they’re interested in one another for the goddamned camera. Not a damn date!”

Both men stare at me in shock. You’d swear these people have never met me before. I’ve never once brought a woman to CK on a date. Do they actually think I’m going to start tonight?

“Do you want me to change your seat?” my father asks half-heartedly.

I glance over at Emma and see Randy moving around the table like he’s trying to get all angles of her. Looking back at my father, I shake my head. “No, but be prepared. Your other guests are going to have shitty experiences here tonight because he’s going to be doing that nonsense right there the whole time.”

That makes my father rethink his decision to put us at that center table. Before I can stop him, he walks over to Emma and gestures toward the table Kane had suggested in the first place.

Nudging me, my uncle gives me a wink. “See? He’ll fix it and everything will be okay. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this unhappy, Alex. First at Alexandria’s and now here tonight. Is everything all right?”

I quickly tick off all the reasons everything is absolutely not all right, but I decide not to say anything to him. “I hate living my life in a fishbowl, and that’s what tonight feels like. I just need this to get done with so I can go back to my life.”

“She’s very beautiful,” he says, almost as a consolation. “At least there’s that.”

He’s right. It could be worse. She could look like a troll and snort liquid out of her nose when she laughs. That would definitely be worse.

“Yeah. I guess. Kane, do me a favor, would you? Keep my father busy while this whole thing is going on, okay?”

His blue eyes light up like I said something funny. “It’s his first time seeing you on a date, Alex. Give the guy a break.”

Then it dawns on me. Kane’s right. Other than that seventh-grade nightmare of a date with that weird girl, this is the first time he’s even met a woman I’m supposedly dating. Still, I can’t have him hovering over us all night. That will only encourage Emma to think this is an actual date.

“Just keep him away, please?”

With a smile that tells me he thinks this pretend date is real, Kane nods. “Okay. I’ll keep him occupied.”

“Thanks. I guess I need to get this meal started so it can end.”

“That’s the way to think about it,” he says with a laugh.

Family. I usually love mine, but that’s because they’re never in my actual life outside of this restaurant and family get-togethers. Right now, all I’m feeling is this is going to be as bad a disaster as that date with Lord of the Rings girl.

An hour later and our dinner is finished, thankfully. Emma hasn’t been terrible, and there were moments that I didn’tdislike being here with her. It’s not her fault. She’s just not the woman I want to be with tonight or any other night, for that matter.

“Are we going to have dessert?” she asks as the server hands us cards with tonight’s dessert offerings.

“Sure. We don’t have any soufflés, but the German chocolate cake is pretty great. I’ve only had it once, but I can recommend it,” I say with a rare smile.

Her expression falls at my mention of the soufflé. “You’re angry with me because I had you make that chocolate soufflé, aren’t you? I just wanted to give you something you don’t usually make. Please don’t be mad at me.”

I try to avoid looking at her big eyes full of worry that I’m upset with her, but it’s impossible. Feeling like shit, I shake my head and smile.

“It’s okay. I just wish it didn’t fall.”

The concern disappears from her face, replaced by real happiness when she hears I’m not angry with her. “I tried it, and it tasted great. I made sure to tell Jonathan that too, so don’t worry. It didn’t go against you.”

“Thanks.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see someone who looks familiar. Turning to see who it is, I half expect it to be another member of the March family like my mother or Cade, but to my surprise, I see Kat seated at the bar. Dressed in a long black dress, she looks beautiful.

Damnit! This can’t be good for any chance of getting her back. The look on her face is nothing short of sad. Fuck, why the hell is she here?

I need to talk to her. I can’t let her think this is a real date. I wanted a chance to explain myself, and here it is, so I need to catch her before she leaves.

Leaning over, I say to Emma, “I need to speak to my father about something. Do me a favor and order me the chocolate cake when you order dessert, okay?”

She nods enthusiastically, and I walk over toward the service area next to the kitchen to make it seem like I’m actually going to speak to my father, all the while keeping my eye on Kat. When she sees me moving toward her, she hurriedly gets up to leave, just as I suspected she would.

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