Page 4 of Wolfish Hunger
Sammie shrugs. "I'm so hungry for a meal that’s been cooked in a proper-sized kitchen that I'll eat anything.”
"The kitchen in that house is really that small?"
I glance over to see her rolling her eyes. "It's not quite a dollhouse, but it's definitely like one of those New York apartments. You know, the ones that are the size of a closet?"
It feels so good to laugh with her. Even though I can tell she's a bit nervous, I already know that tonight is going to be magical.
"Well, we could go for pizza, French, Italian, burgers, Mexican?—"
Her eyes light up. "Definitely Mexican." She flashes me a warm smile. "And I’m glad it’s a casual place. I mean, it must be, since we don't need a reservation, right?"
The truth is, I could probably walk into any restaurant on the mountain and people would trip over themselves to get me the best table, but I don’t feel like telling her that yet. It's a weird treatment that I've never asked for or wanted.
"So, you said you have four brothers. Which one are you?"
My hand darts out to tap hers almost of its own accord, and I can barely stop myself from holding it. "I'm the middle child. My brothers say normally that would mean I would be forgotten about, but I'm just too damn big…even though I'm only slightly larger than the rest."
Sammie laughs. "Five giants at the table for dinner. Your poor mother must have looked up recipes in army cookbooks."
"Mom is an amazing cook, thank goodness. Plus, she trained us to be her assistants. I can't cook very well, but I can prep like a champ." Sammie grins. "Seriously, if you need an onion sliced, diced, or minced, I'm your guy." Even though I'm just kidding around, referring to myself as Sammie's guy hits my heart with a special little tingle.
She laughs lightly. “Plus, I doubt onions would make you cry. With those long arms, your hands are too far from your eyes!”
Funny, sweet, and so quietly sexy she’s already making my heart race. This girl is a dream.
We reach Herbie's Hideaway, a fantastic low-key place serving a mix of authentic Mexican food based on the chef's grandmother's recipes plus some regular pub grub. As soon as we walk in, the newish hostess perks up. "Welcome – oh, you're one of Kai's brothers, right?"
I lean in and lower my voice, hoping she'll follow suit. "Yes. Kane."
Her blonde ponytail swishes as she glances nervously around the restaurant. "I'm so sorry. Someone was just seated at the table by the front window. I could...um…”
I give her a shake of my head. "Anywhere you can squeeze us is just fine. Somewhere quiet. A back corner booth would be perfect."
She seems relieved. So does Sammie. "Right this way, sir."
As soon as we’re seated, sparkling water with lime and chips with fresh salsa and guacamole appear within seconds. Sammie gives me a strange look. "The service here is amazing. Do you come here a lot?"
"I go everywhere a lot. But I think Kai comes here more often than I do."
We agree to split a beef enchilada and an order of chicken tacos. Meanwhile, I can't stop thinking about future dates, when I'll be comfortable enough to slide closer to her on the leather seat and place my hand on her knee as we laugh together. I know I'm getting ahead of myself, but I want to believe this is the first of thousands of dinners we’ll share.
"So, you said your brother is older. How much older?"
Her bottom lip wobbles for a second. "Seven minutes."
I snort a chuckle. "So you're a twin? Why didn't you mention that? It’s…kind of more than the average brother."
Her gaze drops to examine her hands on the table. "Twins are…I dunno, people always stare like we're some sort of curiosity. I sometimes feel like an animal on display at the zoo."
My hand hovers over hers for a moment before settling gently on her wrist. "I think I can empathize, to a degree. Five boys who look quite similar. We were stared at a lot."
"But you had five different names. You weren't just known asthe twins."
My fingers lace through hers. "Ugh. Yeah, I could see that being annoying." I trail my thumb gently along the side of her hand. "Please tell me your mom didn't dress you alike."
She laughs. "Only for our birthday photo every year. And a few times she’d get us the same winter coat, but his would be blue and mine would be pink or purple." She hesitates. “For us it was bad enough. I can’t imagine how people would stare at identical twins.”
When our food arrives, Sammie looks at me carefully before taking a bite. Then her eyes fall shut appreciatively. "Mmm. This is amazing."
