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Clementine orders for herself and Tennyson, and then the server looks at me. “Bottled water and an order of mozzarella sticks.”
“Promise you’ll love them,” Clementine says as the server walks away. “They taste so much better than caviar.”
I laugh. “I’ve had fried cheese before.”
She raises a brow. “Seriously?”
“You think all I eat is caviar and champagne for every meal?”
She removes the green tape from the napkin around her silverware, unraveling the cutlery. She places the napkin on her lap. “I guess I don’t really know much about you.” Her eyes meet mine, and for once in my life I don’t want to turn away.
Tennyson interrupts our moment, showing his picture to his mother. “See?”
“It’s very nice.” She turns the paper over. “Can you circle the food you want?”
He smiles, using the red crayon to draw a big circle around a corn dog.
“Now that I’ve never had,” I say as the server arrives with our drinks.
“Oh, we’re going to change that right now.”
I feel like a lot of things are going to change, whether I want them to or not.
Chapter 23
Clementine
Gabriel is so out of his element. It’s almost comical the way he reads over the menu, trying to find something to eat. Most nights, when I get home to the estate, I’m so busy with Tennyson, I never really notice what Gabriel does for his meals. He’s usually locked away in his office doing whatever men like him do.
A man passes by us, giving us a stare, and I can’t shake the feeling of what Ronin said to me today. Or the feeling I’ve had since that darn cowboy mentioned Bishop Blackstone’s name at the art gallery event.
I feel like everyone’s watching me.
Like I’m hiding in plain sight.
Am I putting us in danger by eating out in public? I glance around and giggle to myself. One place no one will ever think to look for Gabriel Prince and his soon-to-be wife is at the local Applebee’s. I can almost relax here. Almost.
And I do have to admit, watching Gabriel in this place is quite funny.
The server takes our order, and I throw on an extra kid’s meal of the corn dog. Just so Gabriel can try it.
“Everyone needs to try a weiner fried in dough at least once,” I tell him.
His dark eyes fill with humor, and I remind myself not to be swayed by his gorgeous face. So I don’t look at him, I busy myself with helping Tennyson draw pictures on his little menu. I try to enjoy the normalcy of the evening, and push down the stress of this afternoon. With the wedding, and Ronin, and now Bishop, I’m not sure how much more of this I can take.
“Are you ok?” Gabriel asks.
I gaze up at him, noticing how acclimated he’s become to his new surroundings. He’s like a chameleon, able to blend in with any situation.
“I’m fine,” I assure him. “Just tired from a long day.”
“Wedding preparations are tedious, no doubt about that.”
“What’s tedious?” Tenny asks as the server sets our order of mozzarella sticks on the table.
“Something you don’t really want to do,” Gabriel answers.
“Then why do you do it?”
