"What are you doing?" She gasped.
"Sitting down," he replied. He ignored her glare, sitting on her side of the booth. He was aware of the fact that he was treading on thin ice but couldn't resist the chance to get close to her.
"People are staring!" She hissed. The way she was starting to blush seemed so unusual that Conrad couldn't help but find it adorable. "Conrad, please. Just go sit on your side," she begged.
"Let them stare. We're married. We've got nothing to hide." He wrapped his arm around her, pulling her closer.
"Let me out of here-" she pushed him but he refused to budge.
"You're a terrible host."
"Excuse me?" She raised an eyebrow. His accusation had distracted her from trying to push him out of the booth.
"You invited me to lunch and you're renagging before we even ordered," he laughed.
"I wasn't renagging. You're just embarrassing me. Why won't you sit on your side?"
"Because I want to be close to you."
"Conrad-"
"- No, I mean it. I don't want to sit on the other side of the booth. I want to be as close to you as you'll let me," he was tempted to scoop her into his lap but he knew that would be too much for her. Victoria did not handle public affection very well and forcing it on her would only make her lash out.
Victoria tried to ignore Conrad's words, but she could feel herself melting. He always managed to get under her skin. She knew that if she gave in to him, he'd only hurt her in the end. No matter what they tried, they went around in circles. A part of her assumed he only enjoyed the chase, that he enjoyed working to convince her to give them a chance but losing interest when she actually gave in. Not this time, she promised herself.
"Let's just order," she whispered, unable to acknowledge his compliments. She looked out the window, hoping to avoid the hurt look she knew would sweep across Conrad's face.