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“Look, I understand why you feel the way you do, it’s just that my Alpha Chase, his mate Madison actually, had a pretty terrible ex-boyfriend, who caused a lot of problems for us in the past. I guess it’s made me a little less trusting when it comes to strange men lurking about.”
“Welcome to womanhood,” she says rolling her eyes and crossing her arms across her chest.
“Come here,” I step forward and open my arms up for a hug. She scrutinizes me for a second with her icy blue eyes and then she steps forward and leans her head against my chest letting me wrap my arms around her. “I’m sorry. Are you doing alright?”
“I could go for a big ole basket of fish and chips right about now. Any idea where a lady can come across something like that in this town?” She says against my chest.
“I think I know the perfect place,” I say with a huge grin on my face giving her an extra little squeeze before letting her go.
“I’ll lock up and then you can lead the way.”
On the way to ‘Catch of the Day’, I pick up on the man’s scent heading in the same direction as the restaurant. A scent that certainly was not there on my walk to the apothecary. I bite my tongue, no sense in freaking Lorelei out any more than necessary.
The smell stops right before reaching the front door. He must have doubled back. What is this man up to? Trying not to let the questions running through my mind distract me from making sure Lorelei feels better, I push them back into the subconscious part of my thinking process, promising myself I’ll return to that line of thinking once Lorelei is back in her shop.
“Welcome to ‘Catch of the Day’.” I say holding open the door for her as she steps inside.
“Isaiah! This place is adorable. I mean it looks nice on the outside, but I guess I didn’t expect it to be so stylish and charming.”
“Oh, what did you expect?” I say raising an eyebrow, “A hovel?”
“I just mean this place looks like it could be in a magazine,” she says playfully slapping my chest as I lead her over to a cozybooth. So many eyes are on us, I can hardly keep track of the town folk reactions.
“Fingers crossed that one day it might be,” I say having her take a seat. “Would you like a menu, or would you allow me to curate a meal for you?”
“Go ahead Cheffy, curate away,” she says wiggling her fingers at me dismissively.
“I’ll be back soon,” I say and bend down giving her a short, but sweet, kiss on her perfect lips.
When I return to the booth, with a tray piled high with food, Lorelei is not alone. She’s been joined by Madison, Chase, and Ash.
“Have these folks been bothering you?” I say attempting to sound lighthearted but even I can hear the edge of annoyance in my tone.
“Not at all, your friends have been hospitable and kind,” she says beaming up at me.
“Let me be the first to say, hands off this food everyone except for Lorelei” I narrow my eyes making individual eye contact with everyone around the table.
“No problem.” Chase says with a cocky grin, “We’ve already got an order placed with the kitchen.”
“You don’t mind us joining you, do you?” Madison asks Lorelei sweetly. “It won’t be a problem for us to grab a different table of our own. We’ve heard so much about you, I guess when we saw that gorgeous red hair of yours in the booth, we got a little ahead of ourselves.”
“Not at all, it’s nice to meet more people in town. Isaiah is pretty much the only friend I’ve made since moving here.” I wince at the word friend, it’s not like we’ve had the boyfriend-girlfriend talk yet but after hearing the word friend roll so effortlessly off her tongue, I’m thinking it’s about time to do so.
“If I hadn’t moved here with this goofy group, I’m sure I wouldn’t have made any friends yet either.” Madison offers.
“So,” I say clearing my throat and setting a basket down in front of Lorelei, “These are our fried pickle chips, our deep-fried but not breaded cauliflower steaks with aioli, and of course the classic basket of fish and chips. Today we have white fish.”
“Oh wow, my stomach is grumbling I can’t wait to dig in,” Lorelei says licking her lips.
“The sauce I’m giving you to accompany your fish and chips is still being tested, but it’s made with the foraged plants and herbs you gave me. Let me know what you think.” I say plopping down next to Lorelei who digs into the fish and chips right away.
Her eyes roll into the back of her head as she tries a piece of the fried fish dipped in the wild foraged mayo sauce, “Mmm, this is outstanding! How did you get the fish so freaking crispy on the outside but still perfectly moist and flaky inside?”
“That’s a trade secret.” I say proudly, “And the sauce?”
“It’s delicious but I think I would add a bit more dill to give it a bit more freshness, to wake up the flavor of the fish.” She suggests.
“That’s what I thought too!” I clap my hands together excitedly. “She knows exactly what she’s talking about.”
