Page 74 of Sapphire Storm

She handed them their giant, leather-encased menus. “Oh, youknow. You kitchen folks burn out too fast to stay in one place for too long.It’s the front of house people like me who stay fresh as daisies.” She madeflower petal fingers on either side of her face before launching into a briefhistory of almost everyone they’d worked with back in the day. It was a similarstory to the one told at many restaurants where he’d worked over the years—theowners had grown less invested over time before trying to hand off the place tothe next generation, which in the life of a restaurant could either spell amiracle or a disaster. In this case, it sounded like Jillian’s heirs were doinga bang-up job. Then Sarah vanished but returned a second later with acomplimentary bottle of Puligny-Montrachet, Ethan’s favorite Chardonnay.

Once they were alone, he and Roman toasted.

“So if I say this place is nicer than the Queen Mary, areyou going to slap me around and give me a lecture about gay rights?” Romanasked.

“Only if you’d like.” Ethan sipped, watching closely asRoman’s glass froze an inch from his lips.

Roman caught his look. “Oh, you think it’s going to go likethe scotch?”

“Possibly.” Ethan smiled.

“Well, scotch is gross, but wine is just kind of dumb.”

Ethan made an expression of mock horror. “I’m sorry. Did yousaydumb?”

“You know, people just get kind of ridiculous about it. Likethey’re all”—he swirled his glass and scrunched up his nose in his impression ofa snob—“this one is quite woodsy, with base notes of lettuce and suntan oil.”

“Take a sip.”

Roman complied. When he swallowed, his eyes lit up. “Wow.This is really good.”

“See? It’s important to try new things.”

“Like paragliding. Although, I don’t know, you were prettychill about the whole thing. I should probably come up with something thatpushes you out of your comfort zone a little.”

Ethan sipped his wine. “I was terrified, Roman.”

Clearly startled, Roman set his wine glass down, eyes wide.“You were?”

“Absolutely. I have a total fear of heights. I thought myheart was going to explode out of my chest the minute you mentioned it.”

Roman sighed and threw up his hands. “Well, why didn’t yousay anything?” he whined. “I didn’t want to force you to do something thatfreaked you out.”

“You didn’t force me,” Ethan said gently. “And I didn’t sayanything because I wanted to do it. For you.”

Jaw slack, Roman cocked his head to one side as if Ethan hadpresented a complex mathematical theorem. “I don’t understand…”

“It was clearly something you wanted to share with me, andthat meant a great deal tome. I guess your joy proved infectious, andso it became more important than my fear. Oh, dear. Are you crying?”

Roman nodded and wiped at his eyes with the back of one hand.“It’s, like, maybe the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me. Also, maybe I’mdrunk? I don’t know.”

“I doubt that, baby. You’ve had one sip.”

Still sniffling, he lowered his hands from his face,revealing a twinkling in his eyes beneath the glisten of tears. “Baby,” hewhispered with a spreading smile. “So I have a pet name now?”

Ethan felt himself flush. “It just came naturally, so Iguess so.” He took a sip of wine. “Baby,” he added once he swallowed.

It felt as if they’d just crossed some threshold.

Maybe this was how it was supposed to happen. Maybe you weresupposed to meet someone fast and furious and without expecting it. Maybe atfirst, the right one always seemed like a terrible choice. It was a starkcontrast to the methodical, bullet-pointed-based dating system he’d used withmen ever since he’d quit escorting—a process that had always struck him as cold,perhaps a form of overcompensation for having been a libertine for so manyyears.

The menu had changed some since he’d left, but not much, sohe was able to do a fairly good job of recommending dishes to Roman. And by thetime they were halfway through their entrees, they were working on a secondbottle of Chardonnay. Occasionally their bursts of laughter drew startledglances from some of the other diners. And as the candles inside the restaurantseemed to glow brighter, Ethan realized the sunset to which he’d timed theirreservation had passed without their notice. That’s how intensely they’d beenfocused on each other throughout the meal.

Then, once the dishes were clear, Roman went quiet andstill, staring at Ethan as he held his half-empty wine glass close to onecheek.

“What is it?”

“Something’s bothering me,” he finally said.

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