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“No. This isn’t eighteen-ninety-two. Or Disney, for that matter.”
He coughed into his hand, and I swore it was to hide a laugh.
“He’s not going to whisk her off into the sunset like some corny romance movie, nor is she going to pack up her entire life and move because a handsome duke reckons he’s in love with her.”
“Isn’t the point of the story that he is in love with her?”
“Yes, against all odds and his own judgement.”
Max paused. “And that isn’t enough for her? She seems hard to please.”
“If I had a book, I’d hit you with it.”
“Let me guess, she says that to him at some point.”
“Not yet, but she’s going to. I’m sure there’s plenty of opportunities for him to say something as stupid as you just did.”
Right on cue, our dinner was brought over, putting a pause to the conversation as the waiter checked on us. After our assurance that everything was fine, we both dipped our heads and tucked into the food.
I’d made an excellent choice.
The pasta was, in fact, delicious.
“I just don’t know how you can think someone is hard to please because love isn’t enough,” I said when I’d finished, setting my cutlery down in the bowl.
“Have you been thinking about that the entire time you were eating?”
“I’m a woman. Of course I have. I’ll be thinking about it for at least the next week.”
He gave a small laugh before sighing and looking over at me. “Ellie, you write romance. How can love not be enough for a protagonist in a romance novel? Isn’t her entire story arc to find love?”
“Yes, but if it were that simple, I’d have her adopt six cats and live happily ever after. It’d be less hassle, and she’d find love.”
“Have you met your cat?”
“That’s a very good point.”
Max rubbed his hand over his mouth, fighting a smile. “I suppose I assume that love is the end game in a romance novel and it’s always enough.”
“It’s the end game, of course, but that doesn’t mean a character wakes up at three in the morning and suddenly decides to change her entire life because she’s in love. They have to go through the same emotions and thought processes one would in real life.”
“But they’re not real.”
“Wow. If you wanted to insult me, you could have just made a comment about my dress.”
His gaze dropped to my cleavage before he drew it back up again. “But they’re not real. They’re just fictional characters, Ellie.”
“I’ve never walked out on someone during dinner before, but that might be about to change.”
“Don’t be so dramatic.”
I folded my arms across my chest. “Dramatic? If you think this is dramatic, you haven’t seen anything yet.”
He looked at me.
“Hey, I don’t care. Nobody here knows me. They all know you. I have no qualms about embarrassing the shit out of myself and taking you down with me.”
Max’s tongue flicked out and wet his lips. “I think I should get the bill.”
