The Honeymoon Period (The Austin Series) by C.J. Fallowfield Page A

softly. ‘Mia Page, you have me
wrapped around your little finger and you know it,’ he murmured as he grabbed
the back of my head and pulled me in. We continued kissing until we heard a
cough and realised the taxi had stopped. I blushed and paid him and heard Gabe
sigh in frustration as we stepped out.
    ‘So, I
don’t know if you’ve been, but I discovered that The Golden Lotus is the best
Cantonese in the city.’
    ‘It is baby,
and it’s mine and Dad’s favourite Cantonese, so it’s a great pick, thank you.’ We
headed upstairs to the restaurant which looked so cosy decorated in red and
gold dragon wallpaper with hundreds of tiny Chinese lanterns on the ceiling to
give a soft glow. We were led to a corner table with black leather padded high
back benches so we sat at right angles next to each other. ‘What would you like
to drink, Mia?’
    ‘Actually,
would you mind if I had a bottle of Tsingtao beer instead of wine?’
    ‘Are you
determined to keep my spending to a minimum tonight?’
    ‘No, I just
love it and why pay for a really expensive bottle of wine when I’m happy with a
cheap beer that tastes really good?’
    ‘Have I
told you that I love you?’
    ‘You’re not
cross?’ I asked, surprised.
    ‘No. I
should be providing for you, so it hurts my ego a little bit when you won’t let
me, but I quite like that you don’t care about all that expensive stuff,’ he
said with a shrug.
    ‘Hold on a
minute. You should be providing for me?’ I exclaimed, shocked and a
little affronted. ‘I’ve no ring on my finger, Gabe Austin.’
    ‘Not yet,’
he smiled.
    ‘GABE,’ I
glared at him.
    ‘What?’
    ‘I’m not
with you to snare you for your money and to become some dutiful wife who lets
you pay for everything and keeps me looking pretty on your arm at functions,
and talking of rings on fingers is way out of order and you should know better
after our recent discussions. Honestly, you’re such a chauvinist sometimes,’ I
said angrily.
    ‘You
mentioned rings first. Take a breath or you’ll pass out again, then I’ll have
to scoop you up into my arms and carry you out as only us male chauvinists can
do,’ he winked, smiling at me.
    ‘I’m going
to the toilet before I’m tempted to slap you in public.’ I grabbed my bag and
stood up indignantly. ‘Don’t even think of smiling at me like that, I’m mad.’
    ‘You’re so
sexy when you’re mad baby.’
    ‘Whatever.
Order me a beer with your millions, I’ll need it to get through this bloody
meal with you.’ He laughed so I scowled at him and he mouthed ‘ So hot’ at me, before I stormed off to the toilets. I was determined to still be mad
with him when I got back to the table, but when I saw a Tsingtao cardboard
carry box, with six bottles of beer sitting by my place mat, I burst out
laughing. He grinned and winked at me, making me want him even more than I
already did. ‘You’re so out of order, Gabe,’ I said shaking my head. ‘I can
knock back six no problem, what are you having?’
    ‘You’re
sharing those with me, my millions can’t stretch to another crate. You do
realise that people make money by not spending it?’ He pulled me to him and
kissed me.
    ‘Then
you’re failing miserably lately, Austin. I hate that you can stop me staying
mad at you,’ I sighed as I broke away.
    ‘I love
that you try to, it’s adorable, like you.’
    ‘So I’m
going to choose the starter and you can choose the main as I know we’ll have to
have the same,’ I advised as I scanned the menu.
    ‘I love
when you’re bossy too.’
    ‘Shut up
and pick something, I’m hungry.’ I flashed him a smile and grabbed his hand and
held it as I studied the choices. I ordered pork yuk sung to start with some
steamed wild mushroom dumplings and Gabe ordered us stir fry rib-eye beef in
black bean sauce with Singapore rice vermicelli and water chestnuts. We fed
each other with the spicy pork mince and crispy noodles wrapped in crisp cold
lettuce