Only Mine (Honey Mountain #5)(92)

The hostess greeted us, and when Dylan gave our name, she clapped her hands together once.

“Oh, yes. You’re Hugh’s cousin. He’s expecting you. Let me take you to the table that he set aside for you.” She motioned for us to follow her, and she continued chatting as we walked through the restaurant. “He’s been so excited for you guys to get here. Don’t tell him I said that; he’d probably be embarrassed.” She giggled and fanned her face.

We arrived at the table, and Dylan thanked her as I pulled her chair out for her. Once we were both seated, she leaned close to me, her jasmine scent making it hard to concentrate. Damn, I couldn’t get enough of this woman. Never thought I’d be engaged, but even more surprising was that I couldn’t wait to walk down that aisle and make it official.

I wanted the whole fucking world to know she was mine.

“Clearly, she has a crush on Hugh.” She smirked.

“Who?”

“The hostess. Did you see how red her face was when she was talking about him?”

“No. I was too busy looking at your perfect ass sway in those jeans,” I said.

She chuckled. “Baby. Focus. The poor girl was all worked up. This is how it was when we were in college. Girls would fall all over the guy. Hugh’s always been a bit of a playboy, and women eat that up.”

“Funny, he told me that he was practically your bodyguard in college because all those lame-ass college dudes were all over you.”

“We did make quite a pair.” She waggled her brows. “And then I met this gorgeous, infuriating, broody Navy SEAL, and that’s all she wrote.”

I leaned forward and nipped at her bottom lip just as a hand came down on my shoulder.

“Do you need a room?” Hugh said as he pulled out the chair beside us and sat down.

“Always,” I admitted.

Dylan smiled and shook her head. “Hugh, this place is amazing. I’m so proud of you. You always said you would follow in Uncle Bradford’s footsteps, and look at you now.”

I’d met his family at Ashlan and Jace’s wedding a few months ago, and I’d learned that Hugh’s parents had been in the restaurant business, as well. Hugh had taken over their burger place and their small pub a few years ago, and he’d finally opened his own place now.

“It’s got a great vibe. And the place is jam-packed, so you’re clearly doing something right.” I leaned back in my chair and glanced around again.

“Yeah. It’s been really good so far. I can’t complain. I got your wedding invitation the other day. Who’d have thought Dilly girl would ever be such a swanky bride?”

“Me,” she said. “I’ve always had an inner swanky side. I just saved it for my special day.”

We were getting married in a few weeks, and we were having the wedding at my parents’ home in the city. My mother, of course, was over the moon, and she and Dylan were planning the whole thing together. As far as our big day went, I cared about two things.

The bride having everything she wanted.

And getting her out of her dress as soon as possible after the wedding.

We had a lot to look forward to between the wedding and my father’s retirement party shortly after the wedding. I’d be stepping into his shoes at work, and I’d have my wife by my side, so it didn’t get much better than that.

“I’m really happy for you guys. It’s going to be a gorgeous day. Damn, we just had Ashlan and Jace’s wedding not that long ago, and now, here we are again. You Thomas girls sure are busy.” Our server arrived at the table with a bottle of wine and three glasses, even though we hadn’t ordered anything yet. “I have our best bottle of wine to celebrate you being here and your upcoming nuptials.”

Once the glasses were filled about halfway, we each held up our glasses and clinked them together before taking a sip.

“Yeah, I’ve heard from everyone in the family, and they’ll all be there.” Dylan set down her glass.

“They wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

Apparently, all the cousins had spent summers together growing up, and they’d always been close.

“Hey, boss,” the hostess said as she waggled her brows, and this time, I noticed that her face was bright red. I’ll be damned. My future wife was the most observant person I’d ever known. “There’s someone here to see you.”

“I didn’t think you’d make me stand at the entrance and wait for her to come call for you,” a voice said from behind the hostess before a woman with dark hair jumped out.

“Oh. I asked her to wait,” the hostess grumped.

Hugh was on his feet and wrapping his arms around the other woman, which appeared to upset the employee who’d come to get him. On further inspection, the hostess couldn’t be more than sixteen or seventeen years old. I glanced up to see Dylan raise a brow at me.

I told you so.

I raised one back.

You did, but you don’t need to be so cocky about it.

We had a way of communicating without words. It was similar to my relationships with my SEAL brothers, but then you throw in the fact that she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever laid eyes on, we had explosive sex—a lot of it—and I was madly fucking in love with her.

Dylan was standing now after Hugh set the stranger down on her feet and told the hostess it was all good, and she could get back to work. I almost laughed at the way she sulked and walked away.