“Foie gras with brioche toast points on a bed of truffled apple and chive greens, with raspberry coulis, sauternes gelee and demi-glace,” he said before disappearing back into the kitchen.
“Billy this is so…romantic.” She kissed him, hard, on the lips.
He reached around and grasped the back of her neck with his hand, holding her there, kissing her more deeply. “I love you so much,” he murmured before moving away from her.
21
Music played softly in the background. The voice was so familiar. It was Ben, but in a way she’d never heard him perform before, just his voice, accompanied by a piano.
“What is this?” she asked.
“Hmm?”
“The music. What is it?”
“A gift, from Ben.”
“Why?”
“Because I asked him for it.”
“I’ve never heard this song before,” Renie murmured.
“Beautiful, isn’t it? Like you.”
He brought her hand to his lips again, and kissed across the back of it. “Dance with me,” he said.
He stood and held his hand out to her. Someone turned the music up slightly, and he moved her across the open floor.
“I love having you in my arms.”
She leaned further into him.
“I remember the first time I held you this way. Close to me. Your body touching mine, this way.” He kissed her neck, below her ear, softly. “I wanted you then, Renie. I wanted to make love to you that night. Did you know? Did you feel it?”
She knew exactly when he meant. And yes, she’d felt it. “I wanted it too, Billy.”
He led her back to the table when the song ended, and pulled her chair out. When she was seated, he moved her hair over her shoulder, leaned down, and kissed the back of her neck. She shivered as the current from his lips ran through her body.
He sat, and this time Raj came out from the kitchen.
“How is everything?” he asked.
“Wonderful,” Renie answered.
Jason joined him with their next course.
“Spiced carrot soup,” he said. “With paprika-roasted crab, and pistachio dust. Bon appetit.”
The two men disappeared again.
Billy raised his glass. “Another promise, Renie.”
She raised hers too, and waited.
“I promise to dance with you, hold you close, touch your body with mine. I never want us to lose that connection.”
This time Renie touched her glass to his first. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them.