Page 50 of The Billionaire Mismatch

“Is everything on the menu meatless?” he asks.

“It’s a vegetarian restaurant,” I answer.

“You didn’t mention that,” he says.

“Must have slipped my mind,” I say. “Oh, they have boneless buffalo cauliflower wings.”

“Cauliflower wings…” he echoes.

“Trust me, they’re amazing,” I tell him.

“Cauliflower doesn’t have wings,” he says.

“Neither do buffalo,” I say, and the look on his face makes me regret not having my camera ready.

“You know what,” he says, setting his menu down. “You can tell a lot about a person by their vegetarian dinner order. That said…why don’t you just order a couple of things and we’ll split it.”

I blink, not entirely sure I heard him right.

“Is that okay?” he asks.

“Yeah, I just…that’s a very un-Luca thing to do,” I answer.

“So you know me now?” he asks.

“I know you well enough to know you never split food with other people and definitely never let anyone order for you.”

“Yeah, well, I have a wild hair…” he says as the waitress returns with our drinks.

“Or you gave up as soon as the cops routed us off the interstate and into the woods,” I say.

“Or that,” he says, and I laugh.

I order the cauliflower, a black bean burger, spicy peanut tofu, and pesto kale gnocchi. Luca says nothing as I rattle it off; he just sips his whiskey. The waitress eyes him again, takes our menus and walks back to the kitchen, and I giggle.

“What?” he asks me.

“Nothing. But you’re right. She does look like she’s waiting for you to tie her to the stake,” I answer.

“Told you.”

“How’s the whiskey?” I ask as he takes another sip and leans back in his chair.

“Surprisingly good,” he admits.

“How’s the date?” I ask.

“Also surprisingly good,” he says and my mouth pops open.

“You’re not having a good time?” I ask.

“I never said that. Actually, I said the opposite,” he answers.

“Yeah, but you said surprisingly,” I say.

“I’m not surprised that a date with you is good. I wouldn’t be on date four if that were the case. I’m surprised that despite the fact everything has gone wrong, it’s still turning out…surprisingly well.”

I smile at that. “I find that a little spontaneity typically only makes experiences better,” I tell him.