“This is one of my favorites. A celebration to the duchess coming home!” Luca smiled at me and I lifted my cup before taking a sip. I wasn’t much of a drinker, so had no idea if it was a good vintage or not. It also struck me as odd every time someone welcomed me home. I understood why they said it, but home would always be in the States where I had grown up.
“To the Rousseau family.” Cathy lifted her glass.
“To Samantha.” Alex looked at me over his glass of wine.
The food was delicious and I was completely satisfied by the time Luca brought several bowls of chocolate mousse.
“I don’t have room!” I groaned.
“Make room! You don’t turn down Luca’s mousse. It’s amazing.” Cathy dove into her bowl with relish and I looked at Alex. He had finally relaxed next to me and stayed there through the dinner. His arm lay on the back of the booth and his long legs stretched out under the table.
“Where does she put it all?”
“No idea, but if you want to try it, you better do it before she finishes hers.”
“You only live once, Sam! Try it!” Cathy nudged my bowl with her finger and I realized that was the first time she had called me by my nickname. A little piece of me relaxed and I picked up my spoon.
The dessert melted in my mouth and it was like I had swallowed a little piece of heaven. I closed my eyes and just enjoyed the flavors. There was a hint of raspberry from the sauce that made me consider pouring the rest of the bowl in my mouth. Forget the spoon. When I opened my eyes, Cathy was nodding her head in agreement, but Alex was watching my mouth with a stony expression.
“Told you! It’s like crack. Or, I think it’s like crack. What drug is it that only takes one time?” Cathy tilted her head thoughtfully. I was struck in that moment by her youthful eyes and guarded upbringing. No wonder she didn’t see Kyle for what he truly was.
“That would be it.” I took another bite but tried to keep my reaction sedate. “And this is definitely addicting.”
“Don’t tell the head chef at the palace, but his chocolate mousse doesn’t even compare.” Cathy sighed.
“My lips are sealed.”
As we were finishing up, there was a commotion at the door. I looked over the booth to see Luca talking angrily to a man at another table. The man tried to calm him down but eventually stood up and pointed a camera at our table. A large chef and waiter joined Luca as they tried to push the man out the front door. Luca was hollering in Lilarian, but from his tone I could tell it wasn’t very pleasant. Becca and Duvall showed up at the table, blocking our view of the scene. Or, more importantly, blocking the camera’s view of us.#p#分页标题#e#
I tried to calm my racing heart. There were a lot of people in the little restaurant who wouldn’t let anything bad happen to me. I just couldn’t believe the trouble the photographers were going through for a picture.
“Oh, poor Luca.” Cathy sighed and set down her spoon.
“Duvall, make sure we take care of that man’s dinner. I don’t want Luca losing money just because someone was trying to take our picture.” Alex leaned toward the people standing outside our booth.
“Of course, sir.”
“Why are they so focused on us? Is it like this all the time?” I frowned at them. What had I gotten into that I couldn’t go enjoy dinner with friends?
“I haven’t seen them this rabid since…” Cathy trailed off at a quick look from Alex. “I’m sure it’ll calm down, Sam. They just want pictures of the new duchess.”
“Did they do this with the other guy? The duke that was reinstated?” I had feeling what she had been about to reference.
“No.” Alex shook his head. “But you’re younger, so they feel like you’re more interesting.”
“Not to mention beautiful.” Cathy smiled at me. “All that dark hair and your dark eyes.”
“That too, of course.” Alex gave me a small smile.
“There’s also a lot of press about you and Alex. They love to drum up romance stories.” Cathy leaned forward, resting her elbow on the table. “They’d just love it if you two were an item.”
“We’re friends,” Alex and I said in unison. I chuckled weakly.
“Of course you are.” Cathy sat back in the booth with innocent eyes.
I felt queasy and I wasn’t sure if it was from all the food or the reminder of what life would be like if I did give in to Alex. We ended up leaving through the back door. There were too many people out front for us to be able to reach the cars. Luca had boxed up some of his chocolate mousse for us to take and apologized that our dessert had been interrupted.