Page 83 of Thick

“I’m going with the chicken and the spinach salad. You?”

“The same.”

She wrinkled her nose. “You’re going to eat the chicken?”

“I told you. I eat healthily. So, yeah. We’ll eat the same thing. It’s only fair.”

“That’s sweet of you.” She nodded toward my hands. “The fleur-de-lis ring. I like it. Is that new?”

“It’s not new, but I haven’t worn it in a while.”

“Where’s the one with the skull?”

“With the others.”

“How many do you have?”

I probably had fifty of them, but I’d really never counted. Wearing rings and bracelets was something that I had done since I was a kid, and I doubted I’d ever grow out of it.

I shrugged dismissively. “Never really counted them. I’ve got a few.”

“What’s that one made of?”

“White gold. They’re all white gold. It’s easier to work with. Never really cared much for yellow gold. It’s too flashy.”

She gave me a sideways look. “Don’t tell me you made that.”

I grinned. “Okay.”

She looked at it again, and then shifted her eyes to me. “Did you?”

“You said not to say.”

She let out a sigh. “Now, I want to know.”

“Yes, I did.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously.”

She rested her forearms on the edge of the table and leaned forward. Her blonde curls fell over her arms and onto the table. “You’re Becker Wallace, aren’t you?”

She studied me hard. Her mouth was twisted into a smirk. She blinked her eyes a few times, and then widened them playfully as she waited for me to respond.

“Nope,” I said. “I’m just plain ol’ Tate Reynolds.”

“You write romance books, you ride in an MC, and you make jewelry by hand.” She relaxed in her chair and let out a sigh. “I can’t believe you. You’re far from plain.”

“You better start believing it.”

“You could have your pick.” She looked me up and down and then shook her head. “Any girl you want. You’re telling me that I’m your choice?”

“My only choice.”

“Why?”

In complete contrast to the rest of my brethren, I didn’t hook up with women, go on dates, or have random sex to simply satisfy an urge. At heart, I was a romantic. Just like the men in a few of my light-hearted books.