“You going to tell me who you are now then, Bri?” Ramses had his glass to his full lips, no straw. It appeared he wanted to save the sea turtles tonight, my cup empty as well. He swallowed down his Sprite before draping an arm across the back of the booth. “I have to say I’m curious.”
Not much to me, I stayed silent, not giving in to his game.
His smile dashed coy. “Were you a wedding guest? I didn’t see you tonight, but that doesn’t mean you weren’t there.”
I could say the same about him. Though, how I’d missed him I had no idea. The man was huge, after all, towered over me and actually had to dip his head to make it inside this very restaurant. I touched my chin to the top of my hands, my fingers laced. “What gave it away?”
That observant gaze dragged over my body once more, but I had to give it to him. He’d glossed completely over my pinked chest to find my eyes. “Just a guess. Were you?”
“Yes. I’m assuming you were as well.”
“Also, yes.” His fingers danced on the top of the booth. “Bride’s side? Groom’s?”
“Didn’t make it to the ceremony actually.” I cuffed my arms. “I was late. Snuck in right as dinner was being served.”
He angled his head. “You sure you’re not a wedding crasher?”
Definitely didn’t have the time to do something like that. Maybe back when I was twenty. Laughter hit my arms, shaking my shoulders. “No. I was invited to the wedding, a plus one actually.”
“So, was this plus one a date?” he asked, very obvious what he was doing there with his question. He grinned. “I notice you’re not with that invited wedding guest now.”
I wasn’t. My smile more than wide, I pulled my water glass over. “She and I go way back, but she’s just my friend. My mentor, actually.”
I’d met Evelyn when she’d been an adjunct professor during my time at New York University. She’d been there only briefly
, but in that time, she’d offered me so much support as one of her history students. Really, my love for history now had been because of her, and she was the reason why I was here as well. She’d been the first one I’d called when I found myself suddenly seeking work. I hadn’t worked in a handful of years.
All of this new.
She’d been there for me just like she had back then, a mentor but now a friend. I smiled at the thought of her. “She and I go way back.”
“So said friend, who you go way back with.” Ramses paused, his fingers waving in the air. He touched his chin. “Who’s also a she who you have no romantic interest in whatsoever…”
My God was he obvious. My hand framed my face. “Correct.”
Another grin. “Brought you to Windsor House for the Prinze wedding, but now, you’ve somehow ended up with me.”
I suppose I had, nodding. “She had to work unexpectedly today. Told me to go on ahead. She wanted me to meet people. I’m new in town. Came for a job.”
“Well, you’re definitely meeting people.” He tilted his head. “Where are you from?”
“Jersey. Hoboken.” I sat back as the greeter topped off my water, then Ramses’s soda. I thanked him. “Just moved.”
“That’s a long way. You said you came for a job?”
“Yes, I’m a teacher. A professor actually. History.”
This seemed to intrigue him. He opened his mouth. I assumed to know more, but the biggest pizza I’d probably ever seen was delivered to our table, effectively cutting us both off.
I mean, I’d seen some pretty big pizzas, being from the New York area, but when I mentioned size, I meant the sheer thickness of it. The thing was built like a layered cake, a hefty and girthy stacking of cheese and thick dough and on the top, a layer of marinara and spinach leaves.
“Oh my God.”
“Just wait until you taste it,” Ramses exclaimed, a wink to his eye before reaching into his wallet and giving a tip to the boy who’d brought it. “Thanks, Ty.”
Ty, as he’d called him, unwrapped what was clearly a Benjamin, definitely more than this entire pizza. This seemed awful generous, even for a pizza of this size, but what was really crazy was this guy Ty didn’t appear to be surprised by such an exorbitant gift. I mean, he looked grateful. The kid just got a hundred bucks, but he definitely didn’t give off any type of surprise, his fist bumping Ramses’s before he said he’d see him around. Ramses was clearly a local who may or may not definitely do that all the time.
I wondered what he did for a living.