The man must have made a joke at some point because Micah nearly jumped out of his seat when Renata suddenly laughed out loud, going so far as to grab Damon’s arm and press her face into the man’s shoulder as her boobs shook with mirth.

It was at that point Micah refilled his glass with wine and redoubled his efforts to ignore not just Senator Wilcox, but the occupants of his table as well. (Even if he couldn’t help but subtly eye the way Renata not-so-subtly eyed Damon.)

Thankfully, Senator Wilcox didn’t seem to be as longwinded as most politicians because he managed to wrap up his speech fairly quickly, and soon enough, the same waitress that had brought Micah the wine returned with a round of appetizers for everyone.

If the trio of tiny bites on his plate could be considered appetizers.

The waitress explained each hors d'oeuvre. There was smoked salmon wrapped in the thinnest cucumber Micah had ever seen, drizzled with some kind of white sauce. In the middle, was a goat cheese-stuffed fig topped with a bit of pancetta. And on the end of a fancy white spoon, there was the only bit of food Micah recognized on sight: a deviled egg. Except it featured a cluster of tiny, black beads on top, which Micah belatedly realized was caviar.

The food was fine. Probably even fantastic to be honest, but Micah couldn’t concentrate on the flavors, too busy making sure he held his knife and fork correctly as he cut into the tiny portions of food he could just as easily have picked up and plopped into his mouth.

The main dish was served shortly after the hors d'oeuvres, and was much more hardy. Each guest received one of three meals: prime rib with a side of baked potato, chicken in a bed of wild rice, or a vegetarian option, depending on what preference they checked on their ticket.

Thankfully, Damon had chosen prime rib for both of them.

As tender and juicy as the meat was, however, Micah found it difficult to enjoy it. How could he when Renata seemed to find an excuse to touch Damon every other minute? At the moment, she had a hand resting on the man’s forearm for absolutely no reason that Micah could discern.

Not that it was any of Micah’s business.

(Except it sort of was. It wasn’t like Renata knew his relationship with Damon was a farce, after all.)

Micah picked up his wine glass on autopilot, frowning when he discovered it was empty… again.

“More wine?” Marco offered innocently across the table.

Except Micah doubted the man did anything innocent in his life. He didn’t know what Marco’s motive was in offering him more to drink, but he imagined the man would greatly enjoy watching a dunk Micah make a fool of himself.

Still… the idea wasn’t completely without its merits.