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“It’s not funny,” Xavier said.
“Oh, so you are jealous?”
“Not in the slightest.”
At that, I could only arch a brow. Maybe I didn’t have a lot of experience with men, but I did have an older brother.
Then Xavier’s big hand covered mine again, and every bit of my smug amusement died under its heavy weight.
“I’m not jealous,” he said again. “But even if I was, it wouldn’t matter.”
This time I was the one to frown. “What does that mean?”
“We have a child. Getting involved again wouldn’t be particularly smart, would it?”
“I…” For some reason, I couldn’t immediately agree.
We stared at each other for another few seconds. I swallowed. He swallowed.
Shit. What was happening?
“All right, I’ve got your tofu foie gras in a ginger-soy-mirin bath, topped with house-pickled ginger and shaved endive,” interrupted the waiter.
We both withdrew our hands so he could set a small bowl in front of us containing a gelatinous white cube sitting in a pool of thin brown liquid.
“Enjoy!” said the server, leaving us to stare at the appetizer.
“How can tofu be foie gras?” I asked, eyeing the white cube suspiciously. It looked more like Jell-O than something that could pass as meat. “I thought foie gras was made of duck or something.”
“It is,” Xavier said, picking up his spoon. “But Doro mimics it with tofu. It’s their other claim to fame, and I’m curious if they really pull it off.”
I watched pensively as Xavier spooned a bit of the tofu and broth. He took his time to enjoy the flavor, tongue slipping over the side of the white porcelain, lapping up the broth before tucking everything into his mouth and pulling the spoon back out, slowly, between his lips.
I was unabashedly transfixed.
He looked up to find me watching him. “Try some.”
I looked down. “Is it good?”
“You’ll have to try it to find out.”
I rolled my eyes. He wasn’t giving anything away.
Not to be outdone, though, I picked up my spoon and took a small bite of the gelatinous blob, which jiggled in its broth while I put it in my mouth.
My disgust was immediately quashed.
“Holy shit.” My eyes widened. “That is insanely good.”
Xavier’s blue eyes sparkled from across the table. “Like it, do you?”
“My God.” I took another bite, closing my eyes in bliss. “I could eat that every day for the rest of my life. How do they do that to the most tasteless food in the world?”
“My guess—a fuckton of cream and really good salt.” He smiled. “It makes all the difference. In Japan, there are places you go where they put salt on ice cream.”
“Ice cream?” I grimaced. “That sounds horrible.”
“Nah, it’s fantastic. Really makes the sweetness stand out.”
