Page 17 of Nikolai
“Signori.”
They both looked up in surprise.The tuxedoed waiter again.“Would you like to look at the menu?”
He laid on the table two big, printed menus, in script font, with only a few dishes per course, a sure sign of a good restaurant.He’d interrupted them, but Parker didn’t mind.All of a sudden, she had a huge appetite.It wasn’t just skipping lunch.She often skipped meals.No, her appetite somehow was tied to the giant man sitting next to her, paying careful attention to what she said.She felt open.And warm.What you felt during sex, or so she’d read.Wide open, full of heat.They weren’t in bed, so the restaurant equivalent of sex was a roaring appetite, anticipating pleasure.
Parker opened a menu, sliding the other one over to Nick.He slid it right back to her.
“You order for me.Things you’d like to eat as well, and we’ll share.That okay with you?”
She smiled.“More than okay.Everything looks great and it’s going to be hard to choose.”
“Order everything you’d like to taste,” Nick commanded.
“Whoa.That could be a lot of food.Do you eat fish?”Parker looked up from the fish-heavy menu.
“I eat everything except goat.I’ve eaten nothing but goat for the past couple of years and I’m sick of it.”
She ran her eye down the menu.“Not a mention of goat.You’re going to have a goat-free meal, guaranteed.”
He sat back, grinning.“Then I’m good.Order a bunch of stuff.I want to sample everything.”
Oh.He basically wanted a sampler menu, but the restaurant didn’t offer one.She’d have to order full plates.“You’ll get a bill,” she warned.
Nick shrugged, smiling.“Not a problem.”
“Okay.”She looked up at the waiter and they proceeded to order a dinner with the seriousness and meticulousness of peace negotiations between warring nations.It took a while, but at the end, Parker was sure they’d have a taste of everything worth tasting.
The waiter bowed his head in respect and glided off.
“I think we’ll be stuffed at the end of the meal.”She’d ordered enough to feed a platoon.
“But we’ll probably be happy,” he offered.
“Oh yeah.”
He brought her hand to his lips.“I’m already happy and haven’t eaten a bite.”
His mouth was warm against her skin.He pressed a kiss to the back of her hand, so fleeting she wasn’t even sure it was there.
She nearly sighed, which maybe was gauche.But really—it was almost outrageously romantic.The beautiful evening, the elegant restaurant, the huge man courting her with soft words and gentle gestures.Not displaying any signs of jerkitude.He was interested in her and showed it every way there was but then she was interested in him, too.
Neither was pretending anything, which was fabulous.Just a healthy man and a healthy woman constantly finding things they liked about each other.
“Your Italian is excellent,” he said, letting go of her hand.Her hand felt cold and alone, and she hoped he would hold it again soon.And then felt stupid.They’d need both hands to eat.
“Well, I’ve been living in Italy for four years and I work a lot with Italian archeologists.And I’ve been studying Latin since I was twelve years old.Italian is the only language directly descended from Latin without other influences.”
“I’ll bet you anything Aunt Caroline’s Italian isn’t good.Even after two years.”
She smiled wryly, thinking of Aunt Caroline’s incredibly mangled Italian.“No, it isn’t.When she needs help, I lend a hand.Particularly outside the Consulate.”
Nick topped up her glass.“Do you know any other languages?”
Parker picked up her glass by the stem, twirling it.“Well…I’m a classicist, so ancient Greek and some modern Greek I picked up during summer seminars in Thessaloniki.My French isn’t bad, and I have enough Spanish to survive in a Spanish-speaking country.And I speak a little Klingon, from my nerd days in boarding school.You?”
“Ukrainian and Russian.And I have enough Pashto to say, ‘Put the gun down, motherfucker’ and ‘On your knees, hands behind your head.’”He smiled.“You’ll pardon my French.”
“Pardoned.I’ve learned quite a few strong phrases in Neapolitan dialect for when I’m in traffic.More or less the same, um, semantic field.”Outrageously filthy expressions that would probably get her knifed if spoken to the driver, but which kept her sane when muttered in her car with the windows up.
