Love on Beach Avenue (The Sunshine Sisters #1) - Jennifer Probst Page 0,46
The waiter glided over, smartly dressed in black, introduced himself as Nate, and began to dive into the specials. His voice was low and cultured, and the list went on for a while. When he finished, Carter spoke up. “I heard your fish-eye soup was excellent. Can you tell me about it?”
The waiter looked confused. “Fish-eye? I’m sorry, sir, we don’t have that on the menu.”
“Is it sold out?”
Avery stifled a giggle.
“No.” The waiter shook his head. “To be honest, we’ve never served that type of soup. Personally, it sounds a bit controversial.”
With a tiny frown, Carter considered the waiter’s words, then shot her a look.
Uh-oh.
The realization hit him, and his gaze narrowed. “Never mind. It seems I was wrong about the soup. I’ll begin with the lobster salad, please.”
She pressed her lips together, trying not to laugh out loud. The intimate scene from the car drifted away, and things were back the way they should be between them.
“Did you say you had a crab appetizer?” she asked when the waiter turned his attention to her.
“Yes, ma’am. The chef made them special tonight. Crabby balls.”
She coughed. “Crabby . . . balls?”
Nate nodded. “They’re quite delicious. Crisp on the outside, creamy on the inside. Very popular. Our chef is known for his balls.”
Carter glanced at her in disbelief. A giggle rose up. Was she trapped in a Saturday Night Live skit? “Good to know,” she managed. “I think I’ll skip the balls.”
“But, darling, you adore balls! You really should order them,” Carter announced. “Much better than fish eyes, you always say.”
Shocked, she stared at him. His eyes danced with mischief.
The waiter had no clue what was going on, and had probably missed watching a lot of comedy in his years, because he babbled on. “You’ll love them. The balls are fried, but not greasy at all. Firm to the touch. I guarantee they taste amazing.”
The laughter ripped from her chest and exploded from her mouth before she could stop it. Eyes filled with tears, she waved her hand in the air and gasped out the words, “Fine, yes, bring the crabby balls. Thank you.”
“Of course.” He shot them a puzzled look, but his training held. He didn’t comment on her hysterics or the way Carter had his hand over his mouth like he, too, was about to explode. He gathered their menus and pivoted on his shiny heel.
They collapsed into laughter. “He didn’t get it,” Carter said. “Poor bastard.”
“It was better that way.” She took a deep breath, finally calming down. “God, I forgot how fun it is to be silly. I didn’t even know you had it in you, robot man.”
He smiled back. “I’ve got a few surprises, including a sense of humor.”
“I guess I always remember you being so serious all the time.”
He tapped his finger absently against the white tablecloth. “I had to be. I was worried if I wasn’t strict with Ally, she’d get lost.”
“The first time we met, I recognized she knew exactly who she was. She had an inner strength I was drawn to immediately. Reminded me of my sisters,” she said with a grin. “For someone who lost both parents young, it tells me your hard work paid off. Ally simply adores you. Hell, she promised me I’d be her MOH, and look who she replaced me with.”
His mouth twitched in amusement. She had a sudden impulse to drag her fingers over those plump lips to see if they were as soft as they looked. She enjoyed making him laugh. Maybe because it was a rare gift she didn’t see often, so she cherished it when it happened.
“Appreciate that. I still remember when I had to accompany her at a father-daughter dance. She didn’t want to stay home because all her friends were going, so we put on our fancy clothes and showed up at the school gym. There were all these old guys hanging around the punch bowl. I swear, it looked like a scene from The Godfather, and they used a dance to make arrangements on hits.” He took a sip of pinot noir and shook his head. “So I’m there with my poor sister, and these guys are staring at me like they’re ready to throw the punk kid out of the gym. Ally grabs my hand and marches up to them.”
“Oh my God. What did she say?”
“She told them I was her brother and her guardian, and to be nice to me. Said I didn’t know anyone and asked if