Page 25 of Completing Her

“Yeah,” I said firmly.

“Thank you.”

I smiled. “You like Italian?”

“You mean you?” she teased.

I chuckled. “The food. Or we can do Chinese? Thai?”

“Love them all.”

“Great. We’ll do Italian tonight. Chinese next.”

“You’re so sure they’ll be a next?” she replied, lifting one eyebrow in a sexy, quizzical look.

“Trust me, Raven, there will be.” I pulled into the parking lot of my favorite little bistro.

She smiled, looking pleased.

“What?”

“I like how you say my name,” she admitted.

“It suits you,” I responded as I opened the door of the car and held out my hand to help her.

“It’s really the shortened version.”

“Oh?”

“My full name is Ravenna Jade.” She smiled. “My mom loved the name. My dad added Jade because of my eyes. When I was born with lots of dark hair and my eyes were already green, which is unusual, they decided it was meant to be.”

“I like it.”

“My mom thought it was cool, but she shortened it to Raven. She thought it suited me and would be easier as I went through school.”

“She was right. Your hair—it’s so dark, it reminds me of a raven. I think they are beautiful, majestic birds.”

“You certainly are a charmer, Damien DeSalvo.”

I wound my arm around her waist. “You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

* * *

We had a corner booth and sat beside each other, our thighs pressing together. It felt intimate and cozy, and I liked her close. After making sure she had no allergies, I ordered the dinner for two. Whatever the chef made was what we would eat. I poured us each a glass of wine, and we clinked glasses. I studied her in the candlelight. She wore a pretty skirt and blouse, feminine and lacy. She had a shawl draped around her shoulders. The muted green of her outfit complemented her coloring. Her eyes looked tired, two thumbprints of blue underneath them showing her lack of sleep.

“Any contact today? I asked mildly.

“No. I haven’t seen him all day.” She took a sip. “Thank God.”

“Good.” I drummed my fingers on the table. “How did you pay for your membership to the online dating app?”

“Oh, I had a month free trial. I had to give a credit card for after it expired.” She shook her head. “Andy said he always canceled and made a new profile before his card was charged. He told me once he didn’t really have to pay for dates.”

I snorted. “And yet there he was—on a dating site. His profile was pretty empty.”

“How do you know that?”

I decided to be honest. “I hacked into their system.”

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