She grabbed the chicken one and took a bite—and her reaction was the same.
“Which is your favorite?”
She covered her mouth as she chewed. “Oh, don’t do that to me.”
I finished my food then watched her, noting the way she ate more than I did.
“My stomach is going to be so bloated, but this is so good that I don’t care.”
“And I don’t care either.”
She gave me a hard look across the table then a nod of approval. “You’re so hot, you know that?”
I couldn’t suppress my grin, and it was hard to believe that I’d despised her when we met. She was different from other women because she was so candid, so real. Her thoughts were never a mystery because she would just blurt them out, and her thoughts were never anything less than positive. To top it off, she was smart, wicked smart. “I guess this is a good time to present this.” I dug into my pocket and pulled out the folded piece of paper before I pushed it toward her.
She finished her taco before she wiped her fingers clean to grab the paper. She unfolded it and stared at it for half a second before she looked at me over the top. “We’re doing this?”
“We aren’t seeing anybody else, right?” I grabbed a chip and dipped it into the salsa. “And you just said how hot I was.”
She looked at the paper again before she folded it up. “Your hotness has nothing to do with this.”
“I think it does.” I wanted her skin-to-skin, on the fly, whenever the moment happened. I didn’t want to slow down to get a piece of latex on my dick.
She slid the paper back toward me. “I’ll think about it.”
“How did I know you were going to say that?” I grinned and put the paper back in my pocket. “If that’s not something you want to do, there’s no pressure. Just wanted to put my cards on the table.”
“You gave your hand away pretty quick.”
“Because I’m not the kind of man that plays games.”
She spun a chip between her fingers as she regarded me. “I don’t play games either.”
“I noticed.”
We stared at each other for a moment, her eyes getting that vulnerable look she showed whenever I kissed her, whenever our clothes were gone. I liked every aspect of her, but that was my favorite.
She cleared her throat then dunked her chip into the salsa. “So, you still like working with my dad?”
“It’s a dream come true.”
“No wonder why he encouraged me to go out with you.”
I gave a slight smile. “I don’t kiss his ass.”
“You must be doing something because my dad doesn’t talk about people the way he talks about you.”
“I think it’s more of a reflection on him than it is me. He just has a big heart.”
“You have a big heart too. Maybe that’s why.”
“Yeah, but his heart is bigger in a different way.”
“How?” She continued to eat her chips.
I hadn’t planned on telling her this as colleagues, but now things were much different. “My parents are gone, and he’s gone out of his way to make me feel like I still have someone.”
She halted with her chip in the salsa, her eyes immediately turning vulnerable because the information hit her right in the heart. She abandoned the chip there altogether and pulled her arms close to her body, cushioning herself from the sadness. “I’m so sorry…”
“Yeah…it’s rough.”
“I…I don’t know what I would do if I lost my parents. Just the thought hurts me.”
It hurt me every single day.
“Can I ask what happened?”
I rubbed the back of my neck as I considered the request. “Honestly, I don’t want to talk about it. It’s not you… I just—”
“You don’t owe me an explanation. Forget I asked.”
I dropped my hand, feeling the anxiety leave my bloodstream instantly.
“My dad lost his father when he was much younger.”
“Yeah, he mentioned that.”
She wore a sad smile. “Sometimes I forget how good of a man my father is. He understands the pain of losing a parent, so he doesn’t want you to feel that misery. He understands the agony of watching your spouse battle cancer, so he does whatever he can to comfort the family sitting at the bedside. He’s a smart guy, but I think he’s more heart than brain.”
“That’s a good way to describe him. He tried to invite me over on Father’s Day…”
“Why didn’t you come?”
I shrugged. “You and I weren’t getting along at the time, and I didn’t want to burden him because he felt bad for me. But he continued to ask until I agreed.”
“I don’t remember you being there on Father’s Day…”
“He took me out to breakfast.”
Her eyes softened. “Aw…”
“Yeah, he’s a good guy.”
Her eyes dropped to the table, a haze moving over the surface like she was thinking of something. “He must have watched my match because he knew I’d smoked a cigar…”