Silas gives my hand a light squeeze to get my attention then leads me over to a small table in the back left corner. Before we get there he pauses at nearly every table along the way, greeting friends and people I assume are regulars, introducing me as his girlfriend. I play along, smiling and greeting people politely, and I don’t bother trying to remember any names. The space isn’t all that huge, but it takes a while to get back to our seats. Silas knows a lot of people, and a lot of people apparently want to meet his newgirlfriend.
Finally we get to our table. I take the seat facing the door. He hesitates for a second then takes the chair opposite me. He’ll survive. Besides he's sobig…
“How did you know? How'd you know someone told her about us?” I ask when he hands me mymenu.
“I’ve known Shelby since she was born. She’s never called me Mr. McInroy a day in herlife.”
“Isee.”
“What’s so funny?” he asks. I need to stop smiling in front ofhim.
“Nothing. I’m just trying to figure you out. You’re kind of a dick, but you’re also kinda nice and really polite when you want to be or at least when you'repretending.”
“You think I’m kind of a dick? Considering our circumstances?” He takes off his hat and runs his hand through his hair. I didn't notice before but the dark brown is actually red in some spots. Scott’s hair is so dark. Silas tugs his hat back intoplace.
“You’re—I don’t know the word I’m looking for,” Isay.
“I think you found it. You just called me adick.”
“Okay. I take it back. You’re not a dick. You’re just—different.”
Another girl breezes by the table, dropping off waters, telling us that she’ll be back to get our orders in a moment. I think her name is Ari, and she doesn’t seem interested enough in her boss’s love life to ignore the rest of her tables. Silas seems to be fine with that. I watch him as he opens his menu. I highly doubt he actually needs to look at it. He does own the place. “So, different how?” he says. “Not like the city boys you’re usedto?”
“No. Not at all,” I say instead of “Whatboys?”
“Scott aside, of course. We know he's aprince.”
I look down at the table and lower my voice, but make sure I’m clear.“Listen, let’s not talk about him.Okay?”
He sits back, his hands up in mock surrender. “Completely fair. He’s not my favorite topic of conversationanyway.”
“And I respect that. Family stuff can be hard. I have a little sister. I love her, but she can drive me crazy. I don’t know what the beef is there with you and him, and you don’t have to explain it, but Scott is literally the only person who hasn’t been shitty to me on the job. And he really helped me out with this whole… situation. I know that doesn’t change what happened between you two. I just can’t cosign shit talking him. Not rightnow.”
“Absolutely fair. I’msorry.”
I look at him for a long moment. I wasn’t expecting an apology or for it to sound so sincere. He stares back at me and then he reaches across the table. I swallow, but don't flinch this time when he gently takes my hand. I watch him carefully as he leans a little closer and turns my hand over. He traces his fingertips along the bruise there. He leans forward and kisses the spot, not once or twice. I swallow again and ignore the heat that's rushing over myface.
“You're making me pay for Scott springing this on you, aren’t you?” Isay.
“Is this bad for you? Just tell me. Pretend you're enjoying this,” he says with a wink as one of the waitresses walks close to our table. That stupid fucking wink makes me smile again. A half smile. Not a whole one. I can't give himthat.
“No, it's not bad. It’s just strange. Why are you being so extra? Jesus!” I yelp when he nips my skin. A few people look over at us, and they are all smiles, looking at the sweet couple. So inlove.
“Well as soon as I drop you back at the house we can drop this whole charade. For the rest of the day. But in the meantime, if you were my girl, if I'd been waiting three months to see you, my hand would be under thetable.”
A little voice in the back of my head tells me that I need to tell Silas to stop. He’s being inappropriate as fuck. He’s out of line. He’s rude. I know I should tell him to give me my damn hand back so I can look at the menu. For some reason I don't. I don't know if there's something about the look on my face or if my eyes give me away, or if he’s just being a dick, because he doesn’t stop. He turns my hand over and runs his lips along myknuckles.
“If you were really my girl, I’d blow off the rest of my day and take you out to the East orchard. Bring a nice blanket withus—”
“Oh you wouldn’t take me to the barn where they keep the petting zoo animals? I’ve heard wild things about barnsex.”
“Pssht, hell no. I’d take you to the East orchard. You’ve never been inside a real barn, haveyou?”
“That’s a definiteno.”
“You don’t want me to fuck you in a barn. It’s like fucking on the beach. Romantic in theory, but not in practice. You don’t want that,” he says with a little shake of hishead.
“Oh really? But an openfield?”