“Why?”

Vlad looked pleased that I had asked. “Oliver comes from the Germanic name Alfihar, which breaks down into alf, meaning elf, and hari, meaning . . .” He trailed off as I saw a cheeky gleam in his smiling eyes.

“Meaning?” I refused to have an incomplete sentence.

“Meaning army. Elf army.” He finished the sentence without hurry, clearly trying to wind me up.

“Yes, very funny. Thanks for the suggestion,” I replied, sarcasm escaping my lips. “How do you know all this stuff, anyway?”

“When you grow up with Vladimir as your first name and Eneas as your middle name, you tend to do some research to reassure yourself that your name isn’t that bad.”

“Eneas?!” I laughed for a few seconds before abruptly pausing as I realized something. “But how’d you know about my name?”

He dropped his gaze to the white linen tablecloth, a slight pink warming his cheeks. “I looked it up.”

Just in time, Lilly came back with our food.

I sank my fork and knife into the tender meat and stuffed my mouth with the delicious lamb steak. I was never the type to eat slowly, so within minutes, I stabbed the last piece on my plate and raised it to my mouth. I put the utensils down, and as I looked up, I caught Vlad staring at me. “What?” I asked curiously.

Whether I liked it or not, Kris’s words came to mind.

You were looking at him and when you weren’t, he was looking at you.

Not giving me an answer, Vlad pushed his chair back and stood.

“Where are you going?”

“I am not going anywhere.” Standing to his full height of six foot two, he let his eyes bore into mine. “I’m going to show you what I usually do when I come here.”

“Which is?”

Bending forward, he leaned in, his face inches away from mine, taking up too much of my personal space. The last time we had been this close, our lips were against each other’s. My skin tingled and I could feel my heart beating, low and insistent in my chest. I was afraid he could hear the thumping—afraid that he could guess what was on my mind. I could feel his warm breath against my skin. The smell of soap and mint filled my senses with anticipation. Then he spoke, his lips intoxicatingly close to my ear, “So I could do this.”

For a second I thought he was going to kiss me, right there in the middle of the restaurant, but he straightened up and walked away, leaving me puzzled.

Sitting here right now, I realized how much had changed between Vlad and me. The meal had been delicious, but more surprisingly, the company was enjoyable. We were getting along. He was caring, patient, and he could even crack a joke. I watched him saunter to the front of the restaurant to the piano.