Total pages in book: 151
Estimated words: 140874 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 470(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140874 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 704(@200wpm)___ 563(@250wpm)___ 470(@300wpm)
I was never going to live that bit of teenage foolishness down. “Touché. But what I’m saying is, I’m not afraid to take this risk. I’m not afraid to do it, because I know that if I’m miserable and unhappy, you’ll bend over backwards to fix things. Just like I would for you.”
“I rather like the idea of you bending over backwards,” he said with a chuckle. “Are there classes you can take to learn how?”
“I am sure there are.” I lifted my teensy cup of sake and raised it as if in toast. “But I guarantee they don’t teach them in Sagaponack.”
About halfway through the meal, I started worrying that we would stuff ourselves too much and not be able to move when we got to the hotel. Then I noticed Neil was only eating about half of what was being served, and I remembered his pills.
It wasn’t that I didn’t objectively understand that it wasn’t his fault he needed a little extra help in the getting-it-up department. He’d nearly died a few months ago. Doctor Grant had warned us about the sexual side effects of chemotherapy, and even without all that, Neil was fifty. It wasn’t like he was the only fifty-year-old man in the history of the world who took ED medication, but it weirdly stung my pride that I wasn’t just…enough.
I shook that feeling away. It had nothing to do with me. Obviously, Neil wanted me. I saw it in his eyes every time he looked at me. It was just plain stupid to blame myself for a problem I hadn’t caused, or feel resentful because he was willing to take medication in order to fuck me. Actually, looking at it in that light, it more than proved that he wanted me.
He was a pretty great fiancé.
When they brought us a small, elegantly arranged dish of thin white sashimi, I almost dug right in, until I heard the word “fugu” in the explanation of what he’d set before us.
“Fugu?” The blood drained from my face. “Can’t that kill you?”
“I suppose it could,” Neil said, lifting a slice with his chopsticks. “So could riding in a car, flying in a plane—Bobby Darin died from having his teeth cleaned.”
“You realize how dated that reference is, right?”
The waiter looked a bit annoyed at my doubt. “Chef Masa is one of the most highly regarded itamae in the world.”
“I can’t argue with that,” I said with a little laugh, hoping to smooth over my faux pas. I didn’t even think about the fact that I was calling the chef’s skill into question, especially when he’d agreed to serve us after normal restaurant hours. “I’ve loved everything so far.”
“Yes, it’s all been utterly fantastic,” Neil added. “And tell Takayama I give my regards. I’m not ignoring him.”
Now the waiter smiled graciously. “You’re having a romantic evening. He understands. For anyone else, though…”
Neil laughed. “I promise, I won’t abuse the privilege.”
When the waiter left, I cocked my head and folded my arms over my chest. “Is there anyone in this city that you don’t know?”
He considered. “Jay-Z and Beyoncé.”
Damn.
I eyed the piece of death fish still dangling from Neil’s chopsticks. “Are you really going to risk it?”
“Not this piece. This one is for you.” His raised eyebrows and close-mouthed smirk issued his challenge, but he had to really grind it in. “Unless you’re scared?”
I leaned over the table and opened my mouth so he could carefully place the nearly transparent slice of blowfish on my tongue. Trying not to think too much on it, I chewed and swallowed and smirked right back at him.
“I knew you’d do it,” he said, smiling to himself as he took another piece.
Since I hadn’t stopped breathing yet, I supposed I would survive, and I took another slice. “You knew you could make me.”
The warm light in the room cast a gleam in his green eyes as he looked up from the plate between us. Every now and again, I would see him exactly as I saw him at the beginning of our relationship, when I’d been so smitten with his good looks and charm that my ribs would ache. He was no less handsome or charming now, but time together had made me take that for granted.
Until moments like this. And when they happened, they stole my breath away.
His lips curved in a barely perceptible smile. “I can’t make you do anything, Sophie.”
After dinner, Neil made one last attempt to wrestle his surprise out of me. As he got into the car, he asked, “Shouldn’t you tell Tony where we’re going?”
“He knows where to take us.” It was a wonderfully smug feeling, being the one surprising him again.
“You know, my life has been filled with such uncertainty as of late,” he joked, but I knew he hated the lack of control. He’d enjoyed his party, but I could tell it irrationally bugged him to not be captaining the ship, so to speak.