Page 39 of Love You, Mean It

“I’m guessing that’s also a compliment.” I crossed to the hall closet, shuffling the coats until I could tamp down my stupid grin.Theocertainly didn’t need to know how thirsty I was. Once I’d managed my face, I handed him his coat, shrugging into one of my less utilitarian options, a slim black wool and faux fur number from the sixties that I’d darted through the midsection, swapping out the dingy plastic buttons for oversized gleaming-gold replacements. Weweregoing to Post, after all.

Theo held open the door as I slid into the heeled booties I wore on special occasions, read: pretty much never.

“Are you saying I look the part of your fiancée?”

“You certainly look like someone I’d be lucky to be seen with.” His lips curled lazily at the corners, eyes going slightly hooded as he gazed at me. It was a remarkably sultry stare, and for a moment it left me feeling like a shaken soda, fizzy from top to toe. At least until I managed to remember there was nothing between us besides a shared business interest. “I’m certain no one in that restaurant will be able to tear their eyes away. Which is better than fitting their preconceived notions of who I might choose, don’t you think?”

“Oh,infinitelybetter. You know me. There’s nothing I love more than being the center of attention.”

Warmth flared through my chest at his appreciative laugh. Theo might not be my ideal man, especially not on paper (in person I had to admit he showed occasional glimpses of an interesting personality), but I was shocked to realize that, on some level, we seemed to understand each other.

“So?” He gestured through the door. “Shall we?”

“Lead the way,darling.”

And for a moment, as we emerged into the chilly winter night, Theo’s arm slung casually around my waist as he guided me down the slick sidewalk, it almost didn’t feel like playing a part.

After the bustle of coat-taking, Theo suggested a spot “with a view of the kitchen, it’s my fiancée’s first time here, I want her to have the full experience” so smoothly that I truly didn’t realize until we’d been deposited in the center of the restaurant that he’d directed the hostess toward the spot where we’d be likeliest to be seen. She clearly hadn’t either, her entire bright-eyed demeanor stuck on Theo’sLet me charm yousmile.It had been such a distracting combination of bustling and fawning—Theo seemed to inspire everyone around him to want to meet his unstated needs—that it wasn’t until we’d ordered cocktails that it occurred to me.

What were we going to talk about for an entire dinner?

Not just any dinner, Post was the sort of place, as our serverJaden-I’ll-be-guiding-your-dining-experience-tonightslickly informed us, where they werehappyto course out the meal, ensuring diners had time to savor each dish. Which, frankly, was the least they could do. I saw the “wood-grilled artichoke with citrus coulis” head out to a nearby table as he explained the menu. The plate was pristine, true, but it couldn’t have been more than four bites, and it was the cheapest appetizerat eighteen fucking dollars.

“Anything jump out?” Theo took a sip of his cocktail, a smoky concoction of Scotch and various liqueurs that had almost tempted me away from the rye-and-various-other-liqueurs drink they’d specifically labeled asour spin on a classic Manhattan.

“Besides the fact that this dinner is going to gut my bank account?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, I’m paying,” Theo said with a wave of his hand.

“I mean…I can afford it.” I felt my spine stiffen.Whichwhy,Ellie?What completely idiotic trace code would make me fight for the privilege of spending an arm and a leg on some pretentious meal when the rich kid across the table wasoffering to pay?

“I just saw where you live, remember? The fact that youcanpay isn’t the point.”

“Wow. Okay.” I sat back hard, unexpectedly stung. Hehadbeen judging me. Theo shook his head once, exhaling heavily.

“That’s not what I meant. Just…I’m in commercial real estate, Ellie, I know average rents all over town. Especially if you’ve been in that place a while…?”

“Five years,” I muttered.

“Then I’m betting you have a hell of a deal on rent. Which is fantastic, it’s got everything you need, you’re saving money, and it gives you the freedom to keep doing what you love.”

I squinted at him, unsure what he meant.

“Running the deli?” He tilted his head to the side in question. “I have to imagine having more capital available is useful, right?”

“Right,” I slid out between clenched teeth. “But forgive me if I’m not quite buying it. Remember, I’ve also seenyourapartment.” I willed my cheeks not to flush. Even if he was bullshitting me, what did I care what Theo thought of my apartment?

He took another slow sip, gaze steady on mine, the shifting depths of his blue eyes unreadable.

“I only moved in a few years ago, you know. Before that I lived in a studio near Thief River where I could tell you what theneighbors ate for dinner every night. Specifically because I could smell it through the walls.”

“Why did you live there?” Thief River wasn’t exactlyrough—there weren’t any genuinely scary sections of Milborough—but it was definitely seedy, a densely packed warren of run-down three-families with lovely views of the grimy seventies-era power plant that hunched along the border with Burnton. It was the last place you’d imagine someone like Theo calling home, unless it was as some sort of long-term gentrification plan.

“To save up for a down payment.” Theo shrugged. “I didn’t want to mortgage a lot, so it took a few years.”

“How nice for you not to have to deal with tedious things like debt,” I snipped. “Maybe I should move somewhere with evenlower‘average rents.’ ”

“Hey. I’m sorry.”

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