A Barker Family Christmas (The Barker Triplets 3.50)

A throat cleared and they glanced up, Billie blushing, Logan grinning at the expression on the server’s face.

“Our cat’s a pervert,” he said.

The server, Beth, according to her nametag, arched an eyebrow. “And its name is Weird?”

“If you saw the cat, you’d understand.”

“Okay,” Beth said with a laugh. “What can I get you two?”

Logan glanced at the menu and they ordered an appetizer—Billie had a weakness for deep fried pickles—and the steak and lobster special. Christmas carols piped through the full restaurant, the decorations were spot on, and as he watched the woman across from him, Logan settled back, thinking ahead to all of the things he was going to do to her in—he glanced at his watch, it was just after nine—under three hours.

“So, Billie.”

She smiled. “So Logan.”

“I plan on keeping to our schedule.”

Her eyebrow shot up. “Schedule?”

He leaned across the table and snuck a kiss before their server came back. “I expect to have you naked by midnight, and I don’t care where the hell we are. If we’re stuck in traffic I’ll be pulling over and ripping that dress off. So be warned.”

Again, the soft laughter that fell from her mouth made his chest tight. She opened her mouth to say something—something naughty no doubt—when the lights went out.

For a few seconds, there was complete silence and then cellphones came out and a low thrum of voices filled the restaurant.

“I’m sure the power will be back on in a few minutes,” Billie said glancing around the room. With all the cell phones lit, it was easy enough to see.

Logan spied their server and motioned the woman over. He gave her a quick smile. “You have any idea what’s going on?”

The woman shrugged. “My boss says it’s because of the ice. It was off earlier for a bit. They’ve got a call in to Hydro, but there were a lot of lines down because of the storm so who knows how long it will take for them to get here and figure it out.”

Logan glanced back at Billie, hoping she wasn’t too disappointed. Their dinner date wasn’t looking all that promising.

“And I’m gonna assume since the lights haven’t come back on, you guys don’t have back up generators?”

“We do,” she said with sigh. “But they’re obviously not working either. I have no idea how long your food is going to take or even if they’ll be able to fill any of the orders. I’m sorry.”

It wasn’t more than five minutes later that the owner came over to apologize for the inconvenience with gift cards for another night. The verdict was in, the hydro wouldn’t be fixed for several hours, and he was closing up shop.

Billie wasn’t happy—he could see that—but truthfully, Logan was willing to overlook his hunger pains in order to get his fill of something else altogether. Namely his wife.

“Why don’t we just head home?” he asked carefully as they pulled out of the parking lot.

“No! No way. It’s date night, Logan. I haven’t worn this dress in forever and I just…I want us to have a nice romantic dinner. Is that too much to ask?”

“No,” Logan answered. “Where to, Captain?”

She shrugged. “The entire city block seems to be out of power and who knows what else is affected here. I guess we should head back to New Waterford.” She slumped back into her seat, flipping off the Christmas music. “So much for a romantic dinner.”

There really was only one place to go. He arched a brow and tried to hide his grin. “The Grill??

??

“Well I sure as hell am not going to the Donut Diner in this dress.”

He chuckled. The Grill it was.

Chapter Eight