Page 55 of Surprised By Love

“I’m so sorry about that,” he says, taking one of my hands that I have folded on the table. “It was unprofessional.”

“Do you know her?”

He shakes his head. “No, I think she’s new. I’ve never seen her here before.”

There is that jealousy thing again. Thinking about Josh bringing another woman to this romantic restaurant.

“You come here a lot?” I ask, not knowing if I want to know the answer.

“Yeah, sometimes. It’s my mom’s favourite restaurant, so for her birthday we always bring her here. My sister loves it too, so when she’s in town, we come here for at least one meal.”

I let out a breath. “Oh, that’s nice. I’ll have to bring Amelia here sometime. She loves pasta. Then again, what kid doesn’t?”

He laughs. “True. We’ll have to bring the kids sometime.”

I love the sound of that. Us bringing the kids. I can’t let myself go there, not yet. It’s way too soon, but it feels right.

He still has my hand in his, running his fingers across my knuckles, and it’s doing something to me. I really like it.

“What’s your favourite pasta dish?” he asks, looking between our hands and my eyes.

“I love Fettuccine Carbonara or a good Lasagna. You?”

He takes my hand and threads his fingers with mine. “I enjoy Lasagna or a Chicken Parmesan.”

“Oh, good choices. I like Chicken Parm as well.”

A tall woman with legs for days clears her throat as she approaches the table. She has long auburn hair and bright green eyes that don’t look real.

“Josh,” she says, her voice is soft and sensual. “What are you doing here?”

“I’ve come for dinner.” He tilts his head towards me as if trying to show her he is with someone, which doesn’t seem to matter to her. “What are you doing here, Ramona?”

“Oh, I started working here about a month ago. I didn’t know you liked this place.” She places a hand on his shoulder and he shifts out from under it.

“I do, and if you could bring us a couple of glasses of water and some garlic bread, we’ll be ready to order when you get back.” His voice turns more stern than I’m used to. I wonder if he has a history with Ramona?

“Anything for you Josh.” She turns and walks towards the kitchen.

“Again. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know Ramona worked here.”

So there is a history. I try to pull my hand away, feeling a little uncomfortable, but Josh holds on. “Please, Sam.”

“Sorry,” I say, keeping my fingers laced with his.

The corner of his mouth curls up. “There is absolutely nothing for you to be sorry about. We had a thing a while ago. I didn’t know she worked here.”

“Oh, how long ago?” I say, then regret it. I don’t want him to think I’m some jealous, clingy woman. “Never mind. It’s none of my business.” I lower my head, looking at our joined hands.

He lifts my chin with a finger so I’m looking him in the eyes. “It’s okay. You’re on a date with me. I want you to be comfortable. Would you like to go someplace else? ”

“No, it’s fine. I’d like to stay and you really don’t have to explain.”

“I want to. First, let’s decide what we are going to eat before she comes back.”

“Okay.” I open the menu and the number of items on here is impressive. “Wow, these look amazing. There are so many things I want to try.”

“The food here is top-notch. I think I’m going to go with the lasagna.”

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