“All right, Mr. Pedantic.”

I grinned and leaned forward on my forearms. “You want dessert?”

She looked me up and down and wiggled her eyebrows. We both laughed at the same time, and she pressed her fingertips to her nose as if that would make it stop. “No, thank you.”

“Are you sure?” I brandished the dessert menu card. “He left it when he filled your wine. We may as well take a look.” I lifted it in front of me and read it out. “Ice creams. Tiramisu. Cannoli. Panna cotta. Something I… can’t pronounce.”

She covered her mouth with her hand and peered at me through her lashes, her eyes shining with the laughter she was desperately trying to repress. “I gathered it wasn’t your strong point when we were ordering earlier.”

It wasn’t my fault that all the people who worked here were Italian.

I pointed at her. “Look. I learned Spanish in school, not Italian, and I’ve forgotten every fucking word anyway.”

“Fair point. What else?”

“Basic desserts. There’s a hot chocolate fudge cake served with—”

Reagan shifted. “Share it?”

“Sorry?”

“You wanna share one?” She propped her chin up on her hand. “It’s really good, but it’s pretty sweet. I’m not sure I could eat a whole one.”

“Very romantic.” I smirked and motioned for our waiter, who arrived as if he had a teleport pad ready and waiting. I pointed to the entry on the menu and said, “Two forks, please.”

He nodded and took the dessert menu from me. He gave a small bow and disappeared.

Something buzzed from the other side of the table, and darkness flashed across Reagan’s face.

“That is your phone, isn’t it?”

“Yes.” She blinked at me. “And it can keep ringing.”

“You can answer it. I won’t be offended.”

She sighed and reached into her purse. Pulling out her phone, she pursed her lips. “Halley. Unless my brother has been hit by a car, I don’t really care.”

I laughed. “Just answer.”

“Sorry. What?” She held the phone to her ear. “I’m on it, Halley… Wonderful. I’m glad Ava shared that with you… Do you mind? ... Is Preston dying? ... Right. Are the raccoons dying? … No. Lovely. The only reason you should be contacting me right now is if you have a picture of Betty’s babies to share with me… Right. Get lost, then.” She pulled the phone down and hit the ‘End Call’ button before swiping again. “There. Problem solved.”

I raised one eyebrow. “I feel like I want to ask about Betty.”

Reagan groaned as a sizable portion of cake was put between us. It smelled absolutely incredible, and I had never been happier to see cake than I was right now.

I barely even liked cake, but this one looked like I’d love it.

“So, Betty,” I said, handing Reagan a fork.

She took it with raised eyebrows. “I’ve mentioned Halley and the raccoons, right?”

I put my fork into the cake. “I think I remember something about it.”