Mine to Keep (NOLA Knights #3) - Rhenna Morgan Page 0,73
am—where I’ve been and what my future entails—I will not hide it from you. The real question is—are you brave enough to know me and find the same acceptance?”
Chapter Fifteen
His woman was quiet. Frighteningly so. And for the life of him, Roman couldn’t decide if her lack of conversation was a result of his blunt assertion that he had every intent to marry her, or that he’d thrown the gauntlet of his past between them and sent her curious mind down dark and twisted alleys he’d have been better to avoid.
Biting back a frustrated grunt, he turned onto Bienville Street and focused on finding a parking space near their destination. No easy task when his mind kept recalling the genuine shock and disbelief on her face when the word fiancée had entered the conversation. And that dazed confusion in her expression when he’d confessed all the reasons he wanted her for his bride—that soft and bewildered wonderment—it broke his heart. How could she not see all the things he saw so plainly? Not own and value her worth as he did? Worse, how could the people in her life have failed so miserably in showing her all that she had to offer?
Maybe the plans he’d made for them today were a mistake. Too much, too fast in his campaign to win her. Perhaps he’d have been wiser to focus on her self-confidence and self-worth first.
Ahead, a Lexus sedan pulled free of a parallel spot just outside their destination. Well, wrong approach or not, he was forging ahead. His instincts had never steered him wrong, and if Bonnie needed regular demonstrations of just how valuable and worthy she was, he was going to give them to her. Even if they were a bit over-the-top.
He took the opening the sedan had created and parked.
Bonnie craned her head upward and studied the multi-storied colonial building outside her passenger window. The brick was traditional red and the trim around the many soaring windows with their curved transoms a crisp white. The thick double doors that served as the primary entrance were painted black to match the wrought iron balconies overhead, framed by two authentic gas lanterns that undoubtedly had been around much longer than electricity. A dark placard hung beside the double doors; in gold script it read L’Arpège. By the time Bonnie spoke, her voice was thick with hesitation and dread. “Please tell me this isn’t where we’re going for lunch.”
“Very well.” He unbuckled his seat belt and opened his door. “I will not tell you this is where we are going.”
“Shit!” She snapped her head around and glared at him. “You can’t be serious. I might be a good fifteen feet from the closest window, but I can see enough to know this ain’t a jeans and T-shirt place. Not to mention the fact I can’t even pronounce whatever it’s called.”
He slid out of his seat. “It’s pronounced lar-peej, and today, it does not matter what we wear inside.” Not giving her a chance to volley back a response, he shut his door and stalked around the hood of the truck to hers.
Her reply was instant the second he opened her door. “What do you mean it doesn’t matter today?”
Smiling at the return of her customary curiosity and questions, he clasped one of her hands and tugged her from her seat. “Perhaps it would be best if you came inside and learned for yourself.”
Her frown was adorable, that tiny furrow between the sharp V of her eyebrows one he very much wanted to kiss, and would have if he wasn’t certain it would only frustrate her more. “What are you up to?”
He shut her door behind her and punched the lock button on his key fob. “You said you required food. I’m ensuring you get what you need.” He slid his arm around her waist and guided her forward, but used the opportunity to press his case. “I will always provide what you need, moya koroleva. Eventually, you will come to trust as much. To trust me.”
She looked to him and opened her mouth, ready to continue their conversation, but the doors pushed wide and a man dressed all in black waved them inside with a smile. “Good afternoon. We’ve been expecting you.”
Bonnie hesitated long enough to give the twenty-something man in his crisp button-down, tie and fine pants a once-over, but seemed to realize what she was doing and got on with making her way inside.