Page 32 of Her Defiant Warrior

“What was your mistake?” she asked as he made his way out of her neighborhood.

At a stop sign, he glanced over at her and grinned. “If I had taken my truck, I would have been able to lift you into it, which meant I would have been able to touch you a lot sooner than you’re probably going to let me.”

Bonnie giggled.

Yep, a giggle.

“You’ve got that right.”

* * *

When Jase pulled into the valet at Tease, Bonnie was impressed. The restaurant had just opened last year, and from what she’d heard, it already had a month-long waiting list.

“How’d you get reservations so fast?” Bonnie asked.

“One of my teammates' cousins is a sous chef here. He worked us in.”

Her car door was opened by one of the valets and he held out his hand to help her out of her seat.

“Thank you,” she smiled up at him.

When they got to the hostess station, they were immediately taken to their table. The hostess walked them up a couple of steps, and then seated them at an inside table overlooking the water. It was a fantastic view.

“Your server will be with you shortly,” she said as she handed them their menus and wine lists.

“One of my customers was raving about this place. Thank you for arranging this, Jase.”

“You’re welcome. I don’t know what your customer told you, but I’ve heard that besides the seafood being great, the beef is superb.”

“Good to know. I’m thinking you’re talking about something other than hamburger patties?”

“You’re right, I don’t think hamburgers or fish sticks are on the menu,” Jase chuckled. “How are the kids? Are they okay being watched by Farah and Malik?”

“Oh yeah. Both of them let Lachlan and Amber get away with too much. Too much screen time, too much junk food and they get to stay up way past their bedtime. They love it. The only good thing was that I got them to do their Friday homework before Farah picked them up.”

“What grade are they in? Second?”

“Yep. Good guess. Do you have kids?”

“Nope, never been married, only engaged, and no kids.”

A young girl came and brought them a basket of warm bread and filled their water glasses. Then their server came to take their orders. Bonnie winced. “I still don’t know what I want, do you, Jace?”

“No, I don’t either. Can you give us a few more minutes?”

“Absolutely,” he said before walking away.

“I guess we better look at the menu,” Bonnie smiled. She did an internal wince at the prices. Some of the Japanese beef was going for over one hundred and fifty dollars!

“What are you feeling like? Beef or seafood?” Jase asked.

“Beef,” Bonnie answered honestly. Now it was time to figure out something that wouldn’t break the bank. He was in the Navy, for goodness' sake. He couldn’t be making much money.

“I’ve got an idea, if you’re willing to share,” Jase said with a twinkle in his eye.

Bonnie practically sighed with relief. “I would love to share.”

“Great. Can you pick out two sides?”