Page 31 of Joy
“You’re not paying me.”
“Like hell. I said I would. Yousaidyou’d give me the bill.”
Silas scratched the side of his nose. “Things change.”
“Are you going to deny me paying because we’re on a date?”
“No.”
I spread my hands out and raised my brows, waiting for further explanation.
“Jack’s Auto Shop footed the bill. I did them a few favors a while back.”
“Are you lying?” I asked.
Silas shook his head. “I don’t lie.”
I rolled my eyes. “Yeah, I know. You’re a good boy—everyone says so.”
I guess that was a relief. My car was a piece of shit to begin with, so if it didn’t look all that pretty, even after getting a face-lift post–moose attack, I could live with it. I’d have paid a lot to make sure Silas’s car was back to its original state. And if the repair shop really did do Silas a solid and handle the cost, there wasn’t anything I could do about it.
Which meant I could leave New Hampshire even sooner, if I wanted.
IfI wanted.
I picked up the drink menu and read the available wines. “I know you like whiskey, my mountain man, but do you want to share some wine with me tonight?”
“Ah, sure,” Silas said, fiddling absently with his own menu. “You pick.”
When our waiter came to the table, I first asked for a nice bottle of white wine from the list and then gave my meal order.
“And you, sir?” he asked, looking at Silas.
“The ch—”
“No chicken!” I said, managing to cut him off. I glanced at the waiter and smiled awkwardly.
“Why?” Silas asked.
“Try something different.”
“Do you need another moment?” the waiter asked.
“Er… no, I’ll just… same as him,” Silas answered, pointing at me.
“Very good.” The waiter collected our menus and left to fetch our drinks.
“Sorry,” I said, trying not to laugh.
“I don’t like fish,” Silas stated.
“Just remember the tacos.”
He briefly gave me a disgruntled look. “It won’t be the same.”
“Are you flattering me or being serious?”
Silas glanced up from busily folding and unfolding his cloth napkin. “Why wouldn’t I be serious?”
