Chapter 53

Chapter 53

I considered lying to Andrew, telling him that Noah meant nothing to me, but something about him made me want to keep our relationship honest. At least, this part of it.

“I’ve been dating Noah off and on,” I admitted, “but I don’t think I’m in love with him.”

“You don’t think? How certain are you?”

to his eyes. My l

I stared into his eyes. My heart fluttered.

Susan surprised me by saying. “His liking of you is 99.999%.”

He still liked me that much? Even after the ring debacle?

“I’m certain,” I replied.

Andrew’s eyes softened, and a smile spread across his face. Was that relief that I saw in his expression?

“Why?” I asked with a teasing grin. “Is there something that you have to tell me?”

“Not unless there’s something that you have to tell me.”

I blushed and ran my fingers through my hair.

“No, no, nothing at all.”

So much for being honest, I thought.

Andrew chuckled.

“If you say so.” He paused, as though contemplating something. “Well, I think I should be going soon.”

“Of course. We can finish this another time”

“Perhaps tonight, at dinner?”

I hit my

bottom l*p. Was Andrew asking me out on a date?

No, that was ridiculous. He was just asking me to finish going over the budget with him. That was all.

“Certainly. Where would you like to meet?”

“I’ll pick you up at your apartment at 8 p.m. Make sure to wear something nice.”

“Oh? Where were you thinking of taking me?”

Amour.

When Andrew and I walked through the doors of Amour, the entire restaurant fell silent. We walked, arm-in-arm, to the maitre d’, who led us immediately to our table. Envious eyes followed us.

After my last disastrous foray into Amour, I wanted to dress my best to appear there with Andrew. I didn’t have any designer outfits like most of the patrons, but I did find my most expensive red strapless dress. It reached just above my knee, and a black belt cinched the dress at my waist.

In addition to my regular makeup, I applied mascara, eyeliner, some light red eyeshadow, and red l*pstick. I wore my hair in loose curls that fell around my golden hoop earrings. To complete the outfit. I had black stilettos and a red beaded clutch.

Andrew somehow looked even more striking than he did during the day. He wore his signature three-piece suit and carried himself with a demeanor befitting the Alpha King. Though we both faced forward, I could feel his eyes on me the entire time we walked to our table.

Andrew beat the maitre d’ to pulling out my chair for me.

“Thank you,” I said with a small smile as I sat down.

Andrew sat in his seat, and a waiter quickly replaced the maitre d’ to give us our menus. I ordered the Beef Bourguignon, and Andrew had Steak Tartare. We both indulged in red wine as Andrew’s driver would be taking us home in the Aston

Martin

With our food ordered, I placed Lisa and Bob’s binder on the table.

“So, shall we pick up where we left off this afternoon?” I asked as I started to fl*p open the binder.

Andrew put his hand on top of the pages.

“Actually, I was thinking that we would enjoy our food first and then get down to business,” he said, “if there’s time.

1 arched a brow at him.

“If there’s time? Isn’t that why we’re having this dinner in the first place!”

The corner of Andrew’s l*p quirked.

“Yes, well, I might have had some ulterior motives in asking you to dinner tonight.”

I tilted my head.

“And what might those be?”

“Now, why would I tell you that?”

“Touché.”

I sl*pped the binder out from under Andrew’s hand and placed it on the floor.

“Well, if you don’t want to talk about the wedding, what do you want to talk about?”

Andrew took a sip of his wine.

“How has your new apartment been treating you?”

“Pretty well. It’s not like your mansion, but it’s comfortable enough.”

“You could always move back. We still need another housekeeper.”

A grin spread across his face.

“I never did get to see you clean a toilet, you know.”

I giggled..

“No, you didn’t. I’m surprised that I didn’t get a French maid outfit to go with the position as well”

Andrew snapped his fingers.

“You’re right! To think. I had reserved one especially for you, too. Maybe I can still give it to you, as a special gift.”

He winked at me, and I rolled my eyes.

“And what would I do with an outfit like that?”

“I don’t know, maybe entertain one of your many suitors.”

I glanced at him from over my wine glass.

“One of my many suitors, hmm? Well, what about your many mistresses? Couldn’t you just give it to one of them?”

He clutched his heart, as though I struck him with an arrow,

“You wound me, Crystal. As though I would have any mistresses with someone as beautiful as you are around.”

1 blushed and tucked my hair behind my ear.

“And as though I would have many suitors with someone as handsome as you are around,” I murmured.

An awkward silence fell between us until our food came. As we ate, we fell into a more comfortable rhythm. Eventually, I spotted Andrew eyeing my food.

“You want a bite?” I asked.

He nodded.

I scooped a spoonful of Beef Bourguignon and leaned across the table to feed it to Andrew. Andrew met me halfway across the table and took the spoon in his mouth, slowly sucking off its contents. When he pulled away, he licked his l*ps, a content smile on his face.

“Délicieux,” he said with a flawless French accent.

He cut off a bite of Steak Tartare and pointed it in my direction.

“Do you want a bite!”

I nodded and leaned toward Andrew’s fork. I opened my mouth and tongued the raw beef into my mouth, savoring the juicy, tender meat as a drop of blood ran down my chin. I moaned.

Andrew chuckled.

“You have a little something on your face.”

He reached forward with his napkin and gently dabbed the blood off, being careful to not smear my makeup.

I swallowed my bite of Steak Tartare and smiled at Andrew.

“Thank you. That was delicie-delicieu-delicious. That was delicious.”

Andrew chuckled at my mangled attempt at French.

I should have remained refined, but instead, I stuck my tongue out at him briefly,

He laughed again.

“Very mature,” he said.

“Well, we can’t all have the high-society manners of the Alpha King”

“I could teach you some time.”

“Manners or French?”

“Both.”

I laughed this time.

“That would be nice.”

I couldn’t believe that this was happening. I was having a nice meal with the man who my wolf said was supposed to be my mate. He had forgiven the ring faux pas, and we were having a good time.

Then I heard a voice that sounded just a bit too familiar.

I glanced around Andrew’s shoulder and saw them at the table behind: Bob and Lisa. They were staring right at us, and they looked furious.