Page 211 of Branded
Love.
Hope.
A man whose smile was as beautiful as it was gentle.
The demons didn’t have a chance.
“Beth!” Achara exclaimed. “It’s so good to see you, young lady—” She been reaching for my hands, but then her eyes widened, no doubt catching my new belly.
Rounded enough that I wasn’t just looking like I’d participated in consuming too many tacos, but that I was actually pregnant…and since I was pregnant with twins, my belly was definitely noticeable.
Even more so since I was wearing one of my old wrap dresses and it was skintight and?—
Belly time.
For sure.
Achara’s hands squeezed mine. “Congratulations,” she whispered.
“I—” I started to explain that they weren’t my babies, same as I always did when someone asked about the pregnancy, but Achara’s gaze went over my shoulder.
“Oh, is this your young man?”
That had me smiling, Raph and I were maybe a sum total of five years younger than Archara, but she called everyone young lady or man.
“This is Raph,” I said softly.
“Her man,” Raph agreed. “Though the jury is still out on whether or not I’m young.”
Achara smiled, glanced back down at me, mouthing, “He’s cute.”
I mouthed back, “Yeah. He is.”
That smile widened. “If you want a table, I can squeeze you guys in, but it might be a bit of a wait.”
“I actually made a reservation. Raphael Gomez at eight.”
Achara was positively beaming now. “Oh, you’re Raph,” she said a bit mystically before she glanced down at the list in front of her, making a few notes and then nodding behind her. “If you’ll follow me.”
No picking up menus.
No further explanations or questions.
Just that cryptic smile and Achara leading us to a booth in a quiet corner of the restaurant, Raph’s thigh pressed to mine, his body warm, and the spicy male scent of him surrounding me.
Then, with a squeeze to my shoulder, she was gone.
Before I could ask about menus—not that I needed them. I was boring and always ordered the same thing, but Raph would probably want a look. And anyway, it never hurt to look. Maybe this would be the one time that I would change things up.
Nah.
Who was I kidding?
That wasn’t going to happen.
I was going to get Tom Yum Goong, Som Tum, and then because I could never decide between them, both Tom Kha Kai and Gaeng Daeng—spicy shrimp soup and spicy green papaya salad and chicken in coconut soup and red curry.
Hey. I was eating for three.
