Kissed Blind (Hot Pursuit #2)(75)

“No, it all looks good. You wanna split the spinach artichoke dip?”

My eyes rolled back in my head. “Yes. That sounds so good. How’d you know I was going to want that?”

“Do we have to go over this again?” He cocked his head to the side and gave me his over-confident grin.

“Yes.” I chuckled. “I could’ve wanted the crab dip or the stuffed mushrooms.”

He shook his head. “I’ll bet you I can look at this menu and can guess what you’ll order.”

“You can’t do that. I haven’t even decided.”

“Wanna bet?” He raised one brow and smirked.

I weighed my options and wondered what the bet would be, but the wine had already gotten to my head. “All right. Game on. But how can I know you won’t cheat?”

He scratched his bearded chin and left the table. He walked over to the bar and asked the bartender for something. He returned with a napkin and a pen. “You read your menu and choose, and I’ll write my guess down on this napkin. After you’ve ordered, I’ll show what I’ve written.”

I nodded. “All right, deal. But what’s the wager? You didn’t bring your poker chips, did you?” I laughed.

He shook his head. “Nope. If I guess right, you tell me everything—and I mean absolutely everything that’s been going on with you this week. If I ask, you have to answer honestly.”

I glanced down at my fidgeting fingers. “Okay, but I could lie to you.”

“You can’t lie to me.”

“I resent that. I can too.”

“I guess we’ll see. Read your menu and choose. I’ll write my answer and we’ll know soon enough.”

I glared at him and smiled. I opened up my menu and looked at him over the top. “Fine.”

I read through all the options and tried to think of what he’d think I would order. He knew I loved Italian food, so I avoided that, even though the angel hair pasta with shrimp and spinach sounded out of this world. I scooted my chair back a tiny bit and crossed my legs. The filet Oscar was tempting, but no. The roasted chicken was also appealing, but no again. Then I settled on what I was going to get. I hadn’t had a big, greasy burger in forever. A juicy piece of beef smothered in mushrooms and Swiss cheese, easy on the mayo, and a big side of crispy steak fries. I was hungry enough that I was going to order the French onion soup too. It said it was world famous. How many opportunities would I have in my lifetime to eat world famous French onion soup? Not many. Carpe ūniōnem. My mouth was already watering thinking of spooning in the first bite of buttery cheese and salty soup.

I closed my menu and laid it on the table. “I’ve made my choice.”

He shielded his napkin and wrote down what he thought I was going to order. He had no idea.

Our waiter returned to our table, and Vance insisted I go first. While I ordered, my eyes never left Vance. I watched him for any cues to see if he’d guessed correctly. He was a good poker player, and I’d never been able to figure out when he was bluffing. This time was no different. His stone cold expression gave nothing away. He placed his order, the fettucine with shrimp and spinach, of course.

When the waiter took our menus and walked away, I waved my hand. “Okay, gimme, gimme, gimme. There’s not a chance in hell you guessed that.”

He shrugged in a way that I interpreted as him admitting defeat. He tossed the napkin in front of me. I unfolded it and gasped. He’d guessed everything right down to the light mayo on my burger and the soup.

“H-how did you…”

“I told you. I don’t know why you doubt me.”

I balled up the napkin and tossed it at his face. He dodged it and laughed. “But you couldn’t have just guessed that. Did you follow my eyes when I was reading the menu or something? I never get a burger, like ever.”

“Actually, you do. I knew you wanted what I ordered, but it was too obvious. I’ll be happy to share my dish, by the way.”

I scowled. He was just as irritating as ever. “So how? How could you have possibly guessed that?”

“Look around.”

I glanced at the pool and at a few people lying on loungers. A waiter was taking a tray of food over to a couple who’d recently gotten out of the water. The woman had on a wide-brimmed hat and the man wore a pair of mirrored aviator sunglasses, both were wrapped in towels. They tapped a couple of froo-froo cocktails together and laughed lightly. Nothing about them told me anything that could have given away what I was going to order for dinner.

“Okay, so?”

“It’s warm here, like barbequing weather back home. You love summer. I read the menu and knew you’d want the pasta but wouldn’t get it because, duh.” He shrugged. “You were going to get the burger without a doubt. You and blue cheese is iffy, so you wouldn’t have chosen the Black and Blue burger. Cheddar, bacon and onions aren’t so much your thing, so the All American burger was out. You love mushrooms. The mushroom and Swiss was a solid guess.”

“Huh.” I blinked a few times and took another drink of my wine. “Incredible.”

“Now.” He took a big drink of his beer and made an ahh sound after he swallowed, not only savoring the beer but also his victory. “About that conversation. You ready to answer some questions?”