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“And someone to argue with.”
We both laughed at that, and I couldn’t help but admire her features again. “Did you know you have the most beautiful smile?” I confessed.
That rosy flush came upon her cheeks again, and I drank it up. There was a connection between us. I could feel it. And not a feeling like Suzy, Jacob’s self-proclaimed girlfriend, liked to tell anyone who would listen. This wasn’t an infatuation or a mutual appreciation. This was more. Much more. It was almost as if a string was tying me to her. I also knew without a doubt that I would follow her anywhere. She was mine and mine alone, and I would protect her until the day I died.
“Two spaghetti and meatballs,” the waitress announced, swooping in to place a cereal bowl of pasta in front of each of us.
“Wow, ten meatballs,” Millie said.
“They make them in-house. Bite-size bits with lamb, beef, and pork.”
I watched as she drove her fork in and twirled a good-sized amount of pasta onto the tines. “I love that it’s a thin pasta; it’s almost like angel hair.” Opening her mouth wide, she put the whole lot in. My smile got bigger when she closed her eyes, a soft moan escaping her lips as she chewed. “You weren’t kidding. That’s the most delicious bite of spaghetti and meatball I’ve ever had. It’s so light.”
I commenced eating then, satisfied that she was happy. We didn’t talk again until both of us were scraping the bottom of our bowls.
“I want more,” she said.
I laughed.
“I’m going to have to come back again now that I know this place is here,” she insisted.
“I’d be glad to meet you here anytime you want.”
She stared at me, and a shy smile appeared as she twirled her spoon around and around her bowl. “No guy has ever been such a gentleman with me before.”
I started at the comment, and my first instinct was to ask her who these guys were and what they’d done to her, but she continued talking.
“It’s not like anyone ever treated me bad. They just . . . They never paid attention to me like you have. You look at me like I’m special.”
I blinked at her. “But you are special, Millie. Very special.” I’ll fight my brother for you.
This seemed to make her uncomfortable, so I added quickly, “There’s more to this night than just dinner. I know you must still be hungry. I know I am.”
“Oh, thank goodness,” she laughed. “I thought this was the only meal we were having.”
“You didn’t really think this was all you were getting, did you?”
“Well, usually when someone says spaghetti and meatballs, it’s a big dish of noodles with two huge meatballs, and I usually can’t finish the whole thing.”
“True, but you liked it?”
“I loved it.”
My heart soared at the comment. One day you’ll say that to me. I’ll win you over. I stood up and held out my hand to her. She stood up and took it. Breathing in her scent, I let out a small groan and saw her eyes dilate as I leaned down and dropped a kiss on her forehead before leading her outside.
We walked along the road, holding hands and enjoying the night air. I never would have believed I would feel this content with my mate next to me while we walked down the street. Ten minutes later, we stopped in front of an ice cream shop. It was pink all over with what once was a bright yellow door. According to Jaxon, the owner, it hadn’t been yellow since we were kids.
Millie was running her hands across the front of the door. “It looks like people have drawn different flavors of ice cream all over the door. A graffiti of favorite flavors.”
“We can add ours to it, if you want.”
She turned to look at me with bright, excited eyes. “Yes, I would love that.”
“Let’s go in and find Jaxon. He’s the one we want to see about adding our design to the door.”
We entered to the sound of a bell and waited for Jaxon to come out. We didn’t have to wait long before a large, bald man with a tattoo of a big ice cream cone on his arm came into the shop.
“Bruno! It’s so good to see you!” Jaxon was about Mom and Dad’s age, but we’d become close when I discovered his shop a few years ago. “How are you?”
