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An appreciative look washed over him. “Good.”
With that, he straightened up, kept a firm hold on my hand, and led us into the restaurant. And as we walked up to the table where all of our friends were already seated, I kept a smile plastered on my face as I took in all the looks of approval on theirs.
Johnny was right.
Our friends still looked to us as the standard.
I wondered how they’d all react when they learned the truth.
TWELVE
Kiera
Another day down.
I’d managed to make it through last night’s dinner without incident, but it required a lot of effort. Far more than I had anticipated.
I’d had to split my attention between my friends and Johnny. It wasn’t that Johnny was doing anything in particular to occupy my time or attention, but I couldn’t seem to forget the words he’d spoken to me outside the restaurant.
I also couldn’t seem to stop myself from experiencing a belly dip when he did something sweet for me. He’d held my hand, and he pulled out my chair for me.
It shouldn’t have been a big deal, but I hadn’t experienced any of that in months, so it was hard not to give in to those feelings. I had to continuously remind myself that Johnny wasn’t doing any of what he was doing for me. He was doing it for Zac and Talia. Once the wedding was over, we’d go right back to where we were before we left Dogwood.
On top of all those little things, I had another problem that was making it difficult to focus on my friends and their conversations.
I was hyperaware of the fact that he was sitting right beside me. Not only could I smell his familiar scent, I also knew he was paying attention to me.
And that wasn’t because I was speaking.
He was constantly watching me. I didn’t even have to look over at him, and I could feel his gaze on me.
At first, it had confused me. I didn’t understand why he seemed to be so distracted by me, but I finally figured it out when the server walked up to our table and started taking everyone’s orders.
When she made it to me, she asked, “And what can I get for you?”
I had initially considered going with one of the soups and a salad, but at the last minute, I changed my mind. “I’ll have the sauteed local mahi mahi,” I said.
“And the herbed mashed potatoes are okay with that?” she countered.
I smiled and nodded. “They’ll be perfect.”
“Would you prefer the sauteed spinach or the asparagus?”
“I’ll have the spinach.”
“Perfect. Anything else?”
I shook my head. “That’s all.”
She gave me a nod, shifted her attention to Johnny, and asked, “And for you, sir?”
“I’m going to have the roasted rack of lamb, the herbed mashed potatoes, and the asparagus,” Johnny answered.
The server took down his order, and asked, “Anything else?”
He looked at me for a moment before he said, “Yes, my wife and I are going to split the lobster deviled egg appetizer.”
His wife?
