“You don’t scare me anymore, Griffin Graham.”
“Good,” I said. “I don’t want to scare you. I want to get you hot and bothered.”
“You are very capable of doing that.”
“I hope I never scared you.”
Vee shrugged. “You didn’t. The idea of you being back in my world did. When I learned Royce signed you, I was completely caught off guard. At the time, I hoped we could coexist without much interaction.”
I lifted my cheeks. “I hope that isn’t your goal any longer because as I’ve stated, I have plans for much more interaction.”
Vee’s cheeks filled with a pink blush and her nipples tented her dress. Before I could make a comment, Nathaniel arrived with our drinks, and a younger waiter carried our appetizer and a warm loaf of bread on a cutting board.
“Have you made any decisions?” he asked.
I couldn’t tell him what I was thinking. My delicacy of choice wasn’t on the menu.
Instead, I replied, “Not yet. We’d like some more time.”
“Very well, sir.”
After they left, we both stared at the bowl filled with mussels, complete with their shells. It was a sight I’d never seen before. “Um. Have you eaten these before?” I asked cautiously.
Vee plucked a shell from the bowl and placed it on her small plate. Next, she poured wine broth from the bowl onto her plate. “I have. I eat some seafood. Well, I temporarily gave it up after watching Finding Nemo, but that was a long time ago.”
“Around your Twilight stage?”
She giggled. “After that. I wasn’t vegetarian when we first dated.”
Cautiously, I followed her lead, pulling a shell from the bowl, adding the wine broth, removing the mussel from the shell. While chewy, the mussel had a mild, slightly sweet and salty taste. “Not bad.”
She looked over at me with a smile. “Maybe mussels weren’t a good idea.”
My grin quirked. “They’re considered an aphrodisiac.”
“And you don’t need any additional encouragement.”
“Tonight, when I don’t let you sleep, remember you’re the one who ordered these.” I ate another mussel.
Nathaniel returned, filling our water goblets and asking us again for our order. Even though we hadn’t discussed it, we both gave him an order. Vee ordered bucatini primavera and I ordered a twelve-ounce filet mignon and bourbon whipped sweet potatoes.
“Another drink?” he asked.
“Water for me,” Vee said.
“I’ll have the same.”
When he walked away, Vee’s gaze landed on mine. “Oh, I haven’t asked. How is your rib today?”
“I did what Lacy told me to do. I rested. I’m ready to get back to Maker’s Mark.”
Vee took the last sip of her wine. “Not until next week, right? This is a bye.”
“Coach said we’re meeting on Friday to take a look at our next opponent.”
“Tennessee Titans.” Vee pressed her lips together in a straight line. “It’s Dennison’s first game back.”
“Yeah.”
