Page 39 of The Marriage Deal
I took my drinks back to the theater on shaky legs. My heart swelling. It has to be Levi who requested the change. "Thank you," I said to him as I gave him his drink.
He frowned. "Shouldn't I be the one saying thanks?"
"For this." I nodded at the screen as the movie began again.
"I was lucky," he whispered. "I saw they were showing it, and I knew you'd like it."
"How did you know I liked this movie?" I frowned. Levi and I had never had a conversation that involved movies. Heck, he's never cared what I did with my social life.
Levi put a finger on his lips to shush me and dug into his popcorn, his attention back on the screen. I tried to concentrate on the movie after that, but my gaze still could not stop wandering back to the man sitting next to me. He was a bucket of surprises.
17
Elvira
AFTER THE MOVIE ENDED, Levi suggested dinner. I was hungry, and the popcorn seemed to have sharpened my appetite. We strolled down the little town until we happened upon a cute-looking restaurant that seemed almost empty. When we got inside, I realized it was empty, in fact, and we were the only customers in the building.
"Are you sure this is a nice place to dine in," I said to Levi as we were being directed to a corner table, pulling his arm back. He tapped my hand. "It was the best restaurant in town according to online reviews." We took our seats, and when the waiter was gone, I added, "You shouldn't trust everything you read on the internet." I leaned over the table. "They could have made fake reviews," I whispered.
Levi chuckled. "What do you want to eat?"
I browsed the menu. The offerings looked good, as much as I didn't trust them. "Whatever you are ordering." If I were going to be sick from their food, it better be with Levi as well. He was the one who dragged us to a failing restaurant.
"I don't eat shellfish, so you might not like my taste."
"Is that why you chose this place? I noticed they have no seafood on their menu."
"I told you, it's the best restaurant in the town."
"Is their food super expensive? Is that why it's empty?"
He chuckled.
I perused the menu, then put it down. "Why no shellfish?"
"I'm allergic." Interesting. He did have kryptonite. Levi always seemed so invincible, it was hard to imagine him having a negative reaction to a type of food.
"You better hope they don't accidentally put it in salt," I said, looking around the empty building. Levi laughed again. At least he was finding this entertaining.
But after the drinks came, I relaxed somewhat. Levi was a picky eater, and there was no way he would eat at a shitty restaurant. And the servicewasexcellent. The waiter was attentive, and our food came in record time. The dishes were interesting and varied. And dare I say, delicious. Very delicious.
Levi and I spoke to each other about nothing and everything. Keeping the topics to safe areas and avoiding the giant elephant in the room. Then, when we exhausted nonsense subjects, we settled into a comfortable silence.
"Levi?" We were on our fourth course when I thought to confront it.
"Huh?" He glanced up from his plate. Freezing mid steak-cutting.
"Thank you for taking me out."
"It's nothing. I knew you wouldn't like hanging out with Thompson and his crew."
"I wouldn't have minded, honestly. But you might have. After the private jet trip, I don't know if you noticed, but they've been looking at you like you drip money from your eyeballs. Which you kinda do, but I don't know how you could have handled ten people pitching their research projects."
He scoffed. "You'd think most of them have only recently found out I come from money.I gather you've heard a taste?"
I took a sip of my drink. "Tell me about it. Patty wanted me to put in a good word for her."
"Oh."
