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“Great.” She turned on the balls of her feet with subtle grace and walked away.
“Where are you going?”
“To get dressed. You just said we have plans,” she gritted and I chuckled.
TEN
cress
Thiswas insane.
Mymotherwas insane.
I half-expected her to ignore all of this type stuff—meeting the family, getting in good with the key players—and show up at the wedding making some type of grand entrance that was over the top and very much divaish. Dinner with me and my fiancé hadn’t been something I expected. I wasn’t sure of her endgame but I knew my mother so there was surely some selfish purpose for this so-called meet and greet dinner.
“I have a private room scheduled under Omari. My fiancée and I are expecting one more guest.”
I discreetly glanced at Elias. He was so confident and at ease with the deliverance of the word fiancée in relation to me. I couldn’t figure him out. I needed to know whathisendgame was.
“This way ,Mr. Omari.” The maître d’ smiled over her shoulder as she walked away. Elias’s hand found the small of my back like this was something he and I experienced daily. Another way he was at ease. I decided not to reject his touch. This was my life, might as well get used to it. Once we were seated, the maître d’ announced that our private server, Carmen, would be in shortly and that she would make sure our third guest was promptly escorted to our dining suite. I supposed it would be counterproductive for me to slip her a few bills to do the opposite and ensure my mother wasn’t escorted to our table.
Wishful thinking.
Instead I decided to focus on the current situation.
“You’re very comfortable tossing that word around, aren’t you?”
Elias’s eyes flickered with confusion and I added, “Fiancée.”
“Would you prefer I not be comfortable with identifying you as my fiancée?”
“No, I just…” I paused trying to make sense of what I was feeling, how all of this was forcing me to feel. “You act like it’s not a big deal. That you’re happy…”
He laughed lightly and a woman entered carrying a silver pitcher. I had been here several times before with my mother and she always requested Maurly so I wasn’t familiar with this particular server. I smiled politely as she flipped over our crystal glasses and filled them with chilled water. Once she was done, her eyes rotated between the two of us.
“Can I start you with anything else to drink?”
“Wine for me, a sweet red blend— aged—if you have it and you can bring the bottle. I’m sure my mother will have the same.”And I’m going to need it to survive this evening. My eyes darted over to Elias.
“Only water for me,” he stated without reservation. She smiled, nodded, and left us alone after announcing that Chef Day would be out shortly.
“Only water?” I questioned with a lifted brow. He nodded, placing one hand on the table, eyes fixated to mine.
“I don’t drink.”
“Ever?”
“No. Is that a problem?” There was lingering thrumming energy that tensed between us while he waited. I shrugged nonchalantly.
“Maybe not for me, but it might be for you. You’ve never experienced my mother. You might want to reconsider the no drinking thing, at least for tonight.”
He chuckled and glanced over my shoulder. “I promise I’ll survive. So I take it you and your mother aren’t close.”
“We’re close.”
She’s a tornado, I’m the city she seeks to destroy.
“But you’re not happy about her being here tonight and you’ve mentioned I should consider alcohol as a vice to survive a dinner with her.”
