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Dinner was a disaster, rapidly devolving into a cluster Vivian could see it in the set of Zeke's shoulders, his clenched jaw His obvious dislike of Delilah was understandable; she'd run into sia for the titles of Real Housewives of Kari No boundaries, no ability to read people Too narcissistic to notice when they'd offended someone

Even now, after finishing off the appetizers, the wo for information about Zeke's time in Syria Granted, Vivian hadn't talked to him about it, but he'd made it clear he would only discuss the subject on his own terms Delilah couldn't take the hint Vivian wondered if so for more information about John, details that she was too chicken to ask for herself There wasn’t any other explanation for her curiosity Meanwhile, poor John tried to play mediator between his friend and his lover and looked more and more miserable by the second

With Zeke giving Delilah the silent treatment, Vivian decided to try to put John at ease "So John, what do you do now?"

"I', I guess"

"That's great What have you been studying?"

He relaxed a little bit, eyes still darting back and forth between Zeke and Delilah, but less often than before "Massage therapy It's a little harder because ofwith active soldiers and teaching them how to use the techniques when they're in the field"

She didn't have to fake a smile when she heard that "I think that's an incredible idea I'ling to find out how to adapt to civilian life"

John grinned back at her and dug into his pasta The eight of Zeke's hand giving her knee a quick squeeze underneath the table lanced over at hi the dinner, a hint of a smile played over his lips

They finished the main course in a ht, Zeke waved it away and asked for the check instead John didn't protest, clearly aware that prolonging the aard encounter would be worse than arguing for theued over ould cover the bill, which left Vivian and Delilah sitting across from one another in silence

Delilah broke it first "I love your hair"

"Thank you" Daames "Yours is beautiful I love the cut and the color"

She didn't really It was almost the same shade as hers, which was far too dark for Delilah's skin, especially with all her h the cut was enviably chic Still, she wouldn't have to play nice for er before they could leave and she could finally talk to Zeke

"You own that bakery don, don't you?" Delilah asked

At least this was a subject she was comfortable about "Yes, Divine Twins is mine"

"I love that place," John said, easing back into the conversation after he'd given Zeke some cash to add to the check holder "Is that how you two met?"