“You mean, until you saw Brutus with me.”
He brought their joined hands to his mouth and kissed her fingers.
“Something like that,” he said, and just then, the road merged with the one heading for the town that was just south of Clearwater Pass. It was heavy with traffic and Nick let go of Lissa’s hand, downshifted, and concentrated on his driving.
* * *
Their table was very private, and tucked beside a wall of glass that looked out on a grove of delicately-illuminated snow-covered aspens.
Ivory tapers in crystal holders provided just enough light; the table cloth and serviettes were of heavy ivory linen. The menus were handwritten with black calligraphy.
Nick had made the reservation under a pseudonym, but though they’d been treated with discretion, he knew he’d been recognized the minute he and Lissa walked in. He knew the signs: the widened eyes, the delighted greeting, the deference that went beyond the way customers were normally treated.
Identity blown, he’d thought; nothing would be the same after tonight. It scared the hell out of him, but he knew it was time.
Lissa deserved a life lived to the fullest, not one spent in the shadows.
She had changed everything, even how he looked at the world.
Once, he’d have seen Clearwater Pass as just another trendy venue—handsome, expensive, nothing more. Tonight, he saw it through her eyes. Its charm. Its special ambience.
Or maybe what he saw was her joy. The glow in her face, the way she looked at the menu, the candlesticks, even the heavy silver service. Some of it he recognized as female delight. Some, he knew, was the delight of a classically trained chef.
When their server brought coffee and a dish of small, exquisite pastries, Lissa asked if he’d be kind enough to wrap two of them for a very good friend.
“Brutus,” she’d whispered to Nick, when the man happily obliged.
Nick smiled. “He’ll be thrilled.”
She smiled, too. “Our boy deserves the best.”
Our boy, Nick thought, and reached for her hand.
“Glad we came here tonight?” he asked softly.
“Oh, it’s been a wonderful evening!”
“Good.”
“Clearwater Pass could stand up to any of the most upscale restaurants in L.A. or New York. Someone took a lot of care with it, from the biggest to the smallest details. And the location! The only one I’ve seen that could better it is the Triple G’s.”
“You like the ranch’s location?”
“Oh, Nick, you must know that it’s amazing! The meadows. The mountains. Even the house, now that I’ve gotten to know it better. My sister Jaimie was in real estate for a little while. She’d say the house needs work, but that it has good—”
“—bones. Heck, I know some of that lingo myself.”
“And the food here…”
“Nice?” Nick said politely.
“Amazing! Innovative! Brilliant! And beautifully presented. Even the service… It’s caring, but unobtrusive.”
“Caring, but unobtrusive,” Nick repeated gravely. “Exactly what I was thinking.”
Lissa laughed. He wanted to kiss her, but he had the feeling she wouldn’t appreciate being pulled from her chair and bent back over his arm in a room filled with people.
“Do I sound crazy?”