CHAPTER 19
"Crème Brûlée? Don't mind if I do," I was perusing the dessert menu at La Veranda with great enthusiasm. "If I order ten of them, will that embarrass you?"
Kip grinned. "Not if five of them are for me."
"Great!" I said. "But your dessert is my dessert, that's how it works."
It had been a delicious but uninformative dinner and I was getting antsy. I scanned the restaurant, peering through Tuscan columns past bustling waiters loaded with heavy trays for some sign of an ambush, but saw nothing awry. No photographer or surprise musicians, no expensive bottle of champagne headed our way, and no indication that Kip was about to drop to one knee. I'll admit it was hard to stay vigilant after several glasses of wine but I was doing my best. Finally, I took the direct approach.
"You
