interesting way to describe them, but Romeo stands for Retired Old Men Who Eat Out.”
He thought about that for a minute. “But wouldn’t that spell…”
Willow held up a hand to stop him. “Don’t waste your time. It’s what they call themselves, even if it’s not what it spells.”
“When they talk about themselves,” Gammy explained, “they say retired old men eat out. But I’m a retired English teacher, and it just sounded wrong to me. I’m probably the only one who adds the ‘who’, but I can’t help it. You can ask them about it when you have lunch with them tomorrow. They’re very excited to meet you.” She laughed with glee. “I think they’re just excited to have such a handsome young man join them–like you’ll improve their image.”
“Gammy! Don’t let them use Levi like that!”
“And what would you have me to, Willow? It’s not like Levi can come and get pedicures with us!”
“Men get pedicures all the time,” Willow challenged.
“Not this man,” he murmured, unsure which of his options were the lesser of two evils.
“Nonsense. Levi is going to go to lunch with the boys. Your father may go too. I thought it would be nice if we invited your mother to join us at the spa.”
He tuned out after that because he felt like he might break out in the same kind of panic attack Willow had earlier in the car. Not only was he going to be forced to go out to eat with a group of retired old guys–and complete strangers–but he was going to have to deal with Willow’s father too? This wasn’t part of the plan! They hadn’t prepared for this kind of scenario. They were supposed to be together at all times–projecting a united front! Now what was he supposed to do?
As if sensing his internal freakout, Willow reached under the table and squeezed his knee. It was only mildly reassuring, and he couldn’t wait to get her alone so they could figure out how to get him out of Gammy’s plans.
“Oh, my goodness! It’s time for Shirley and me to go get the mail,” Gammy said as she stood. “Willow, why don’t you and Levi get settled, and I’ll be back in around thirty minutes, okay?”
Willow stood and began clearing the table. “No problem. Take your time.”
With nothing else to do, Levi stood and helped her clear the rest of their lunch stuff, and once Gammy was out the door, he stopped. “We need to talk.”
She sighed loudly. “Yeah, I know. She mentioned sending you out with the Romeos, but I didn’t think she was serious. I’m sure we can get you out of it.”
“How? It’s not like I’m going to fake a headache or anything like that.”
“Lunch won’t be so bad–probably only an hour of your time. And all the restaurants in the town square are amazing. See if you can get them to take you to the kosher deli. The food is so good!”
“This isn’t about the food choices,” he commented. “What am I supposed to talk about with a group of old guys?”
She put the last of the dishes in the dishwasher and straightened. “I don’t see why this is bothering you so much. You’re a bartender, Levi. Talking to strangers is in your job description.”
“Yeah, but…I talk to them for the amount of time it takes to make a drink, I don’t sit down and share a meal with them!”
“Okay, I didn’t think of that…”
“And then there’s your father getting thrown into the mix.”
She waved him off. “He’ll be so busy psycho-analyzing everyone in the group that he won’t have much time to focus on you. If he even goes.” She was walking across the room and toward where their luggage sat by the front door before he could respond.
The house was small–some would say cozy–but most of it was just one open space. Gammy’s bedroom was off one side of the kitchen and he guessed the guest rooms were on the opposite side. Following Willow, Levi walked over and grabbed the rest of their bags and followed her to the…
Only other bedroom.
As in…one room.
One bed.
“Um…Willow?”
“Hmm?”
“Is there another room that I’m just not seeing?”
“Nope. Just this one. Why?”
She didn’t seem the least bit bothered by this, and then he realized why should she? She had to have known about this from the moment they started making plans to come here together. Was it possible that she…was interested in sleeping with him before the whole fake relationship thing?
“Actually, I