Page 60 of An American in London

“There’s nothing much to tell. I got to know him a little while we were away, and he asked me out and I said yes.” I’m understating it, but that’s all I want to share for now. I want to keep the rest between Ben and me.

“Don’t go falling in love with him and moving to London.”

I laugh along with her, but there’s no humor in it—at least, not for me. I guess I’m feeling more ... open to possibilities in a way I wasn’t before coming here. I’m dating someone new. I’m in a different country. My future isn’t mapped out anymore, but instead of feeling terrified about losing my job and apartment and fiancé, I’m excited about what’s next.

But first, dinner.

Chapter Twenty-One

Daniel De Luca’s most successful film,Dinner for Two, takes place in a restaurant where he plays a chef. Julia Alice plays a waitress who comes to London to study at the Royal Academy of Music. Daniel is hot-tempered and foul-mouthed, and Julia hates him. Everyone does. But Julia isn’t scared of him, even though he tries to intimidate her. When she dares to tell him the sauce he serves up with the duck is bland, plates fly. Literally. It’s probably my favorite scene from any Daniel De Luca movie. I love it so much that for my fifteenth birthday, my mom and dad took me to a Greek restaurant in Albany just so we could smash plates. It was my favorite birthday ever.

There’s no way Ben could know any of that. But still, here we are in front of the blue-and-white awnings of what looks like The French House, the restaurant inDinner for Two.

“Do you recognize it?” he asks me. His brow is slightly furrowed.

“Of course I do,” I say. “I just didn’t think it was actually a restaurant. I assumed it was made up for the movie.” My gaze catches on the sign above the door that saysThe French House. I don’t remember seeing the restaurant on the Daniel De Luca map. I would have definitely put it on my London to-do list.

Ben frowns and leads me inside.

The restaurant is empty.

I glance at Ben, but his expression gives nothing away.

The host greets us with a dramatic bow. “Mademoiselle, monsieur, let me show you to your table.”

Doesn’t he want to know our names? I know Ben has a Wikipedia page, but he’s not Daniel De Luca himself.

The tables are set out just how they were in the movie. The host seats us at the table where Daniel De Luca and Julia Alice have their first date after they finally realize they don’t actually hate each other. The only time they can both fit dinner in is after the restaurant closes. He cooks her duck à l’orange, and she says it’s the best sauce she’s ever tasted.

The host presents us with our menus, and when I open it to see duck à l’orange, I realize what’s happening.

He’s done this for me.

I dip my head and lean forward so no one can hear. “Did you hire out this entire restaurant?”

He stares at me for a beat, then says, “Sort of.”

I narrow my eyes. “Sort of? What does that mean?”

“I kind of ... bought the place. The owner didn’t want to make the changes—you know, to the name and the awnings and the tables—”

My head is spinning. I can’t make sense of what he’s saying. He’s going to need to break it down. “Wait, you bought the place?”

“I thought you’d like it. You know, because of the movie. It’s from the Daniel De Lu—”

“I know the movie. It’s a favorite of mine. Are you telling me the restaurant didn’t actually exist before ... you bought it?”

“There was a restaurant here. It just wasn’t called The French House, and it didn’t have these tables or”—he nods toward the staff—“the uniforms. And they did some decorating.”

“Who did some decorating?”

“My people.” He shrugs. “I wanted tonight to be ... I wanted you to have fun. And I know how obsessed you are with all things Daniel De Luca. I thought you’d get a kick out of this.”

I reach for him without thinking, pressing my palm against his cheek. Nothing about tonight’s dinner is about Ben. It’s all about me. He’s just done everything he could to make me happy. “I’m getting ahugekick out of this. The biggest of all kicks.” The corners of his mouth twitch.

Yes, it’s amazing to be at a restaurant just like the one Daniel De Luca and Julia Alice had their first date in, but the biggest kick of all is that Ben would do so much just to make me happy for a single evening.

“So you finally watched a Daniel De Luca movie, huh?”

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