Page 10 of Romancing Rayne

“It even smells the same,” I noted when we made our way into Mickey’s. I looked around the small restaurant and nothing had changed; even the menu on the chalkboard behind the long counter was the same.

“Fish,” Ghost deadpanned.

“Well, yes, and potatoes and grease.”

“It’s a good thing you’re not in advertising. I’m not sure your description of fish, grease, and potatoes whets the appetite.” Ghost laughed and pushed us forward to the counter where a young woman was waiting to take our order. “Two fish and chips, please.”

Without letting go of my hand Ghost navigated the busy pub, stopping at a table in the corner. He pulled my chair out, as always, before taking his seat across from me, with his back to the wall.

“We should’ve carved our names into the table,” I told him, running my hand over the worn, chipped wood.

“Hold that thought,” he said and got up, then disappeared into the crowd, returning a few moments later with the most delicious smelling baskets of yummy fried fish and French fries. I wasn’t sure what Ghost’s issue was with my description of the place was; the fried batter from the fish and greasy crispy fries looked and smelled divine.

I didn’t wait for Ghost to sit back down before I picked up a thick-cut fry and popped it in my mouth. So good. Just as I remembered.

“You know what’s funny?” Ghost asked. I shook my head, unable to answer with another piece of delicious, greasy goodness in my mouth. “Back home, you only order fries if they’re the thin, crispy ones. You won’t even eat the ones at the bar on base because you say they’re too thick. But you devour them here.”

“Hmm? You’re right.” My hand stopped short of my mouth as I pondered his statement. Not so much about how I preferred my food but that he’d noticed. Ghost paid attention to everything, part of that was because he was a Delta, and they were aware of their surroundings at all times, even when home. However, the fact he remembered and cared enough to make changes to fit my preferences was something I’d never paid attention to. Thinking about it made my heart swell. After I’d made the comment about the fries at the bar not being to my liking, we’d never gone back there. Whenever I said I wanted a burger, even though Ghost loved to go and have a beer and play darts after our meal, we went to a burger joint downtown. He was always doing things like that for me. Small, simple stuff that individually didn’t seem like a big deal. But all of it mattered. All of it put together was one more way he showed he loved me and would always put me first.

“I love you, Ghost.”

“I love you, Princess. So, I was thinking. I like your idea about carving our names in the table.”

“We can’t do that.”

“Not our names, but our initials.”

“Ghost,” I scolded. “That’s like destruction of property or something. We can’t really do it. It’s against the law.”

“Only if we get caught.”

Was he crazy? Carving your initials was something teenagers did. What was next? Was he going to put a heart around our names, too?

“That way, next time we’re here, we can retrace our steps and find all the places we marked,” he continued.

“Next time?”

“Yep. Mrs. Rayne Bryson, I promise to bring you back to London for a proper scavenger hunt on our twenty-fifth anniversary.”

And he still wanted to deny he wasn’t a romantic.

“Okay.”

“That trip, we’ll mark more places so on our fiftieth anniversary we’ll have more to find.”

“Fiftieth? Ghost, we’ll be too old in fifty years to walk the streets of London.”

“I’ll never be too old to take care of you. Twenty-five, fifty, one hundred years from now, I’ll always make sure you have everything your heart desires.”

There it was again, Ghost doing what Ghost did best, making me feel loved and protected and, above all, he made me feel cherished.

“For our fiftieth anniversary, we’ll rent those power scooters and zoom around the streets making everyone get out of our way.”

“Do I look like a man who would be caught riding a power scooter, or a motorized wheelchair?”

“No.” I laughed at the thought of Ghost in a wheelchair; that was never going to happen. Though I could imagine him with salt and pepper hair and still as hot as ever.

We finished our meals and piled the empty baskets and napkins in the middle of the table, then Ghost reached into his pocket, pulling out a small knife.