Page 247 of On a Fault Line

“Please, join me while the bread is fresh.”

“No.”

I rip off a chunk that is still hot and dip it into the olive oil bath. Popping it into my mouth, I savor the flavor combination and moan.

“This is so good.” I gesture toward the basket. “Are you sure?”

“Stop it.”

Despite refusing, Penny doesn’t move. She just stands here watching me devour a chunk of bread like I want to devour a chunk of her.

“Aren’t you hungry?”

“No.”

“Then why are you here?” I make a knowing face. “You are stalking me.”

“What?”

“Don’t worry, I am flattered.”

“Ew, no.”

“Well, who comes to a restaurant if not to eat? And you claim you aren’t hungry, so that must mean…”

Then I see Ivan Moreno in my periphery. My eyes catch his, and I track him.

The kid is dressed like he’s about to attend his own wedding—or funeral. At least his over-the-top suit is versatile.

“What are you doing, Penelope?” I say slowly.

Penny must see that my attention has shifted to something behind her, but she doesn’t look. “Learning to live without you.”

“By being reckless?”

“It’s not reckless when we aren’t together anymore.”

Before Moreno has gotten over to us, I lock eyes back with my princess. “Just because you don’t want to acknowledge that we most definitely are together, doesn’t make it any less true.”

“Donotmake a scene.” Smacking her hand on the table, she tries to punctuate her demand.

I put my finger up to my lips. “Shhh…” This is way too much fun. “It looks like you are the scene-causer right now.”

“You are so annoying.”

Yup, she’s getting angrier. And I’m going to savor every bit of emotion she’s giving to me.

She’s delicious.

“Enjoy your pretend date, but just know that if the kid touches you”—I rotate my dinner knife between my fingers—“I’ll have ample supply of kitchen tools to torture him with and exact my revenge.”

“You are crazy.”

“Crazy in love, yes.”

“Stop saying that,” she hisses.

“Love, love,love…” Then I do something really cheesy by cupping my hands to make a heart at my chest.

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