Page 63 of Billionaire's Accidental Marriage
She smiled. “She wants to take a few of the ideas to Yuslan since they own the spa evenly, but she likes the idea of a loyalty program if we can get other local businesses involved.”
“See? You’re already pioneering change your father could have never imagined in his wildest dreams.”
Then, our waiter came up to our booth. “My apologies for the interruption, but can I get you two anything to drink?”
Maggie smiled up at him. “I’d love some water with lemon and a bowl of your potato soup to start.”
He jotted down her order. “And for you, sir?”
I drew in a deep breath. “Actually, I’ll have the same. And can we get an order of your fresh garlic bread to dip in it?”
“Mmmm,” Maggie hummed, “that sounds fantastic.”
The guy smiled as he jotted down our order. “I’ll be right back with your drinks, and then I’ll get your soup orders put in. Will you two be eating anything else with us?”
“Yes,” Maggie and I said in unison.
After our waiter walked away, I saw people out of the corner of my eye, slowly pulling out their phones. I knew what they were doing. I had gotten used to it at this point. But, I watched Maggie closely as she gazed around the room. Some people had their flashes on, and it blinded me from the corner of my eye as they cursed beneath their breath and quickly placed their phones in their laps. But Maggie didn’t seem as distraught as she had once been with having her picture taken.
“You okay, beautiful?” I asked.
She leaned against her seat cushions. “Actually, I am.”
“You sure? Because I have no issues taking our food to-go if you don’t like the fact that people are snapping pictures.”
She grinned. “Let them. It’s about time they had a realistic idea of love to throw around, anyway.”
Her words shocked me. “You really mean that?”
She pondered my question before she nodded. “Yeah, I do. I guess in some ways, I’ve always loved it. I just didn’t enjoy the opinions people had. But, now that things have grown between us, I don’t care about what they say any longer. I know what we have, and you know what we have, and that’s enough for me. And before you ask? No, I have no idea when I became okay with it.”
I barked with laughter before I reached over the table, offering her my hands. She slid her palms against mine as people continued taking pictures, but I put them out of my mind. As I gazed into Maggie’s sparkling eyes, I lost myself in the beauty of her face. In the flush of her cheeks. In the way her love for me seemed to drip from her eyes and cover me in its safety.
“I love you,” I said softly.
Her smile took my breath away. “I love you, too.”
The waiter came back with our water and soups, so I released her hands and sat back up. He placed everything onto the table before rushing to get our bread, then we both ordered our usual sandwiches. Maggie always got the tuna on rye with extra mustard and pickles, and I was a sucker for their Rueben.
But, when I looked back over at Maggie as she sipped her soup, the words fell from my lips effortlessly. “You’ll never regret this. I can promise you that.”
Her eyes peeked over at me before she nodded. “I know.”
“Good.”
We didn’t even get halfway through our soup before Maggie’s cell phone started vibrating off the hook, and I tried to contain my smile as she pulled it out of her purse. She answered it quickly and slid out from the booth in order to walk away. When the waiter came back with our sandwiches, I kindly asked him to put them in to-go boxes for us because I knew when Maggie came back to the table, we’d have to leave.
“Mike, I’m so sorry, but the boutique—”
I held up my hand. “You don’t have to say a word. I know we need to get to the store for something. All I ask is that you finish your soup. I’m already getting our sandwiches to-go, and we’ll grab some water before we leave.”
She sighed as she dropped back down into her seat. “You’re perfect, you know that?”
I winked at her. “Now you know how I feel every time I wake up with you by my side in the mornings.”
We wolfed down our soup and garlic bread in order to stave off our hunger, then I scooped up our sandwiches and my to-go water. I held Maggie’s hand as we rushed out the door and trotted up the road a couple of blocks back to the store. When we stepped inside, I couldn’t believe my eyes.
“The shelves are empty?” Maggie asked.
