Not His Bride Anymore novel · Chapter 7 of 24

Chapter 7: Dinner for Two

On Thursday night, Elliot took me to dinner at the place Caleb's clients liked best.

It was called Aldo's.

It had white tablecloths and a wall of old wine, and half of Cincinnati's small builders ate there on Thursdays.

Caleb had signed his first contract at Aldo's table.

I knew because he had told me about it four hundred times.

"You can still back out," Elliot said in the car.

"Park."

"There's a table near the kitchen where nobody will see us."

"Elliot. Park the car."

He parked.

I had bought the dress myself, with my own card, that afternoon.

It was dark green velvet with a low back, and it cost more than I had spent on myself in a year.

I had stood in the fitting room staring at myself and thought, he's going to see this.

I did not say who he was.

Elliot came around and opened my door.

He stood there with the cold wind lifting his dark hair.

His eyes went from my face to my shoulders to the back of the dress.

They stayed there too long.

"Rule one," I said. "The room has to be watching."

"The room will be watching."

"Not yet. We're on the sidewalk."

"Then I'll look."

"That's not touching."

"No," he said. "It isn't."

My face went warm.

I took his arm.

Then my hand closed around his sleeve and felt the muscle under it.

I thought, oh, that's not the same.

We walked in.

Heads turned.

At the nearest booth sat two men I knew from Caleb's firm parties, a builder and a banker with a red face and a gold watch.

The builder lifted a hand.

"Ainsley? Ainsley Ambrose? Well, I'll be damned. Where's Caleb?"

"I don't know," I said. "I came with my fiancé."

The word felt strange in my mouth, like a stone from another country.

Elliot's hand settled at the small of my back.

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