Page 19 of Brooke
“We will order it as part of our adventure.” His deep, penetrating voice was practical, yet curious. “What else brings you out of the moment?”
She listed a few other items on the menu. His mouth was fighting a smile when she finished. “This place does seem shrouded in silence, but I remember the food being good last time. I will add my curiosity about the smoked jumper juice for the duck. We should order everything that teases oursenses and our minds. Brooke, I like this unconventional plan of ours. And if we are still hungry by the end, we will go somewhere else. Do you like pho?”
She started laughing. But quietly. Because this place really was like a gastronomic tomb and sound traveled. Nanine’s was never this quiet. Her friend would say no one was enjoying themselves. “I love pho. It’s a deal.”
And so, freed of her usual desire to order items she knew or thought she would like, she selected the totally weird choices or ones out of her normal comfort zone. When the three servers arrived again, Axel told them they hadn’t yet selected a beverage of choice but were ready to order their meal, which seemed off-putting to the head server.
When the trio left, Axel leaned forward. “The order in which we select items should not be a problem. If you don’t mind, I will add this to the list for Madison.”
Joy shot through her. He’d become a new ally in something important to her.
There was nothing strange on the wine list, so they agreed on a rich burgundy they both knew and liked for the same reasons. Dean would say this was more kismet. Brooke was inclined to believe the word fit. In Axel, she was finding all sorts of kinship and excitement, more so than on any date she’d ever been on before.
“I haven’t been out since my ex dumped me,” she found herself saying before she could snap her mouth closed. “Ah…that is to say that I’m really glad to be here with you.”
She braced herself for him to go all weird on her. Instead, he only leaned forward, an almost loopy grin spreading across his face.
“I am glad you told me.” He took her hand and raised it to his mouth and kissed the back before she knew what was happening. “Now I know how courageous you had to be to join me tonight. I am filled with more gratitude.”
If her heart were an ice cube, she would have melted fromthe warmth of that comment. That he’d kissed her hand, publicly, didn’t register for more than a second. “I’ve been struggling to move on, so I’m grateful you asked me to come.” And she realized she was, likeyoga prayer handsgrateful.
He slid his chair closer to hers, allowing her to tuck their joined hands under the table. Her mind assured her that she was still blocked from view. Safe from Giulia and anyone else she needed to protect herself from.
“I am sorry for your pain, but I’m glad the relationship ended if you were not ultimately going to be happy. Sometimes we cling to routine and comfort with someone to our own detriment. Even when the person and the relationship no longer make our heart sing. We tell ourselves how much we have shared and invested in them.”
Is that what Adam had been? A two-year investment she’d struggled to step back from and honestly assess? He’d cheated on her with his nineteen-year-old model, and she’d let herself believe it had been the only time. When he’d attended fashion events with her time and time again. Was she fooling herself? Had there been others?
The thought was like fire licking at her feet, threatening to burn the security she’d thought she’d had with him. Swallowing, she asked, “Have you ever had that kind of a relationship?”
He nodded thoughtfully, the movement causing the overhead lighting to catch the white-gold highlights in his hair. “For six years. In the beginning, the pain of separation was like ripping myself in half, but after much reflection, I realized I had compromised too much of myself to be with her. To fulfill her. Those poisonous threads ruin life’s majestic tapestry. I swore I would never do so again.”
“Which is why you told me you’d prefer for me not to use my phone at the table,” she said, his reasoning becoming clearer.
Another wild caress of her hand under the table. “I figured you deserved to know what I wished. Of course, I don’t want or expect you to compromise yourself, but it is important to share such things. It was your choice to set it aside. But when you share such a wish and the other person does not wish to fulfill it, then you may not be a good match. What used to be so fraught with complication is now very simple to me.”
“I’d love for relationships to be that simple.” Even to her ears, her voice sounded aggrieved.
“Perhaps with me it will be.” He squeezed her hand sweetly. “You can always tell me what you wish or don’t, and I will do the same. An adventure is the happiest when the travelers are honest with each other.”
She tightened her grip on his hand, hoping she didn’t look like a lovesick teenager. Part of her wondered if the people she knew were watching, and to that part, she wanted to say,Who cares?God, she was going to have to journal about this inner conflict. “I’m glad I can be honest with you. I…want to be myself. There are only a few people I feel like that with.”
“Me as well, Brooke.” With a simple caress to the back of her hand, he made her feel cherished. “I believe we have quite an adventure ahead.”
All she could hear was her heartbeat pounding in her ears, an insistent call to life she hadn’t heard in ages, maybe ever. God, Sawyer would love knowing she felt like this. A smile tugged at her lips.
“What are you thinking now?” he asked in a deep voice, his eyes fixed on her.
“Only that Sawyer is going to love hearing about this kind of thing. He enjoys talking about life’s quests, being the philosopher of our group.”
“We all are searching for something, Brooke.” He set their joined hands on his thigh, making her aware of the hard muscle there. “Only a few of us give ourselves permission toseek that which drives us. I am glad you are such a one, because so am I.”
Their tomb-like trio appeared, and soon they had their wine and their first course. The meal was like a museum filled with oddities, but she ended up laughing quietly with Axel as they savored every strange menu item. They both agreed they enjoyed the presentation of the shrimp carved into turnip, dotted with poppy seeds for the eyes, but while artful, the taste was quite pedestrian. The bone marrow foam, however, was richly flavorful and pleasing to the taste buds, especially with baguette. Even so, Thea’s bread was better.
The rest of the meal flew by, and instead of their servers warming to their obvious enjoyment of the meal—although not perhaps all the dishes—they stared at them with a superiority and haughtiness that normally would have set her on edge and pissed her off. But not with Axel.
One did not get pissed off while on an adventure.
When they finally left the restaurant, Giulia and others watching them as they departed, she felt a fresh surge of nerves as she thought toward the next step.
