Rebecca's Rose Read Online Free Page A

and all your ancestors. I want you to order whatever you’d like.”
    Rebecca opened her mouth to say something.
    “Except water. I forbid you to order water,” Levi said.
    “Would it be all right with you if I ordered water and a pizza?”
    “No, get a Coke or something.” She needed to put some meat on those bones.
    “I can come back later if you need more time,” said the waitress, still friendly but glancing with concern at the roomful of crowded tables.
    “I’ll have an eight-inch barbecue chicken pizza with a glass of water,” Rebecca said, daring Levi to contradict her.
    Levi stifled a convulsion of laugher. “I want a bacon cheeseburger with onion rings and a Coke. And bring us an extra peach lemonade and an order of cheese fries in case she changes her mind.”
    The waitress jotted down the order and sped off to another table.
    Levi glanced at Rebecca. She sent daggers back at him.
    “I hope you like peach,” he stammered. Why was she so irritated? Didn’t she recognize gallantry?
    “Is this always your habit?” she said.
    “What?”
    “To think you know what I want better than I do and disregard my wishes.”
    “How can this be a habit? This is our first date.”
    “I mean, in general. You are used to getting your way, doing exactly what you want.”
    Levi chuckled. “You’re psychoanalyzing me because I ordered cheese fries?”
    “I do not know what that word means.”
    “I’m not trying to get my own way or anything. I just thought you might like to try the cheese fries. They’ve got like three thousand calories a serving. They’re called a ‘heart attack on a plate.’”
    Rebecca cracked a smile.
    Levi nudged her foot under the table. “Hey, you get a free drink with the cheese fries. And you can have the lemonade without feeling guilt-ridden, because I technically don’t have to pay for it,” he said.
    Some of the ice melted. “I would hate to see a perfectly good peach lemonade go to waste.”
    “And you’ll feel terrible if the cheese fries don’t get eaten. I’m paying for those.”
    Rebecca had a really cute smile when she showed it. “I know I shouldn’t give in.”
    “Yet you feel powerless to resist.” She was on to him, but he didn’t care. He’d gotten his way.
    In all his dating experiences, Levi had never seen a girl actually finish her meal. Tara ate like a bird, and the cheerleaders he’d dated in high school took a few bites of whatever they ordered and left the rest on their plates to be eaten by him once he tucked in his own food.
    Rebecca was not one of those girls. She polished off her pizza, the peach and a mango lemonade, and more than half the cheese fries. She ate with impeccable manners but cleaned up an amazing amount of food. It was kind of cute, and he couldn’t help smiling at her enjoyment. He should have brought his camera to capture her expression, even though he knew she wouldn’t have appreciated it.
    She caught him staring as she popped the last cheese fry into her mouth and lowered her eyes self-consciously.
    “I told you you’d like them.”
    She blushed. “It has been awhile since I ate out.”
    “I thought Amish people loved to eat out. There are four or five buggies at that Denny’s across from the sporting goods store all the time.”
    “My mamm doesn’t feel good most days, and I am not about to take my little brothers anywhere in public by myself.”
    “That bad? How old are they?”
    “Twelve and fourteen. Getting them to sit still is like trying to milk a bull—painful and impossible.”
    “Any other Millers at home?”
    “I have a younger sister, Linda Sue. She is almost seventeen. I cannot get her to do chores, but at least she doesn’t give me trouble like the boys do.”
    “So your brothers are rambunctious.”
    “I don’t know what rambunctious means, but if it explains why Max has almost been kicked out of school twice, I guess they are. I had to promise the teacher that I would sit in class with him