Damon steered Micah into the chair that was directly to the right of the head of the table before taking that seat for himself. Once everyone was sitting, he bowed his head – sending Micah a quick look to make sure he followed suit – and said a short prayer.

Micah hadn’t realized the man was religious.

Micah was confused when Damon took it upon himself to dish up Micah’s plate when he was finished with the prayer, scooping both kinds of pasta onto his plate as well as two dinner rolls and a generous helping of fruit.

It wasn’t until he set the dish down in front of Micah and began filling his own plate with food that the others began serving themselves.

Sophie, who had taken the seat on the other side of Micah, must have noticed his confusion because she offered him a kind smile as she explained, “It’s because you’re the guest of honor.”

“Oh.”

Seeing as he couldn’t avoid it any longer, Micah forced himself to ignore his nervous stomach and stabbed a bit of ravioli with his fork. He thought his nerves would make the food tasteless, but he was pleasantly surprised by the burst of tangy flavor that hit his tongue, and he fought the sudden urge to groan aloud.

Joelle had no such reservations, the moan she let out practically pornographic. “Delicious as always,” she declared.

“It’s adequate, I suppose.” Micah assumed that was a high compliment coming from Caprice. “But where’s the lobster risotto?”

“Micah’s allergic to shellfish,” Damon explained from his spot at the head of the table.

The look Caprice shot Micah made it clear she thought Micah’s allergy existed only to inconvenience her.

“I’m allergic to cats,” Fernando offered, commiserating. “My mother had a particular fondness for them, and she was quite upset when I puffed up like a marshmallow after being scratched by one of her favorite tabbies when I was un niño pequeño. She had to rehome the poor things.”

“I’m surprised she didn’t rehome you.”

Fernando merely laughed off Caprice’s quip. “She probably would have been happier,” he agreed.

Micah had no idea if he was being serious or not, but judging by the way Joelle curled a comforting hand around the back of his neck and nuzzled the side of his face, there was at least a grain of truth to it.

“I’ve known about my shellfish allergy since I was old enough to understand what an allergy is,” Micah said, hoping to distract the man. “But that didn’t stop me from trying the fried shrimp at my friend’s birthday party when I was a kid. It seemed like a good idea at the time – until five minutes later and my face was as swollen as one of his Hulk balloons.”

Fernando let out a bark of laughter.