“Before I forget,” I said as I followed, her hand still in mine. “The security guard said that you give him special cookies…please tell me you’re not giving that old man pot brownies or something.”
Conleigh rolled her eyes as she turned to look over her shoulder at me. The move made a wisp of her hair fall out of her bun, and I wanted nothing more than to curl it around her ear, but that would mean letting go of her hand, something that I definitely did not want to do.
She’d remember that her hand was in mine eventually and try to let it go, but until then I’d revel in the fact that she actually took my hand and was not letting go.
“I make him keto cookies,” she said. “He has to have a low carb intake or it messes with his blood sugar. I played around with the recipes until I found one that didn’t taste horrible. I bring them to him once in a while. He seems to like them.”
I grinned. “That’s nice of you. Keto getting so popular has changed a lot of lives.”
She nodded and stopped beside a keypad, poking the 0911 into it before the green light blinked and unlocked for her.
It was when the door closed behind us that she finally let go of my hand.
I felt the loss like she’d taken part of me with her when she went.
“How do you know about keto?” she asked suspiciously.
I shrugged. “Bread’s a no-no when you’re on a fitness routine like I am. So is sweet shit. But keto makes it possible to actually enjoy some food without having to give up all the flavor that you normally would on a low carb diet…that’s not to say that I’m on one, because I’m not. I just like some aspects of it, like the bread substitutions, and the fact that you can eat as much bacon as you want.”
She snorted. “That would be your reasoning. You and bacon.”
I grinned as I walked forward and placed the bag on the table. “Anyway, maybe I shouldn’t tell you that I got us some barbeque from Holt’s and that the baked potato I got us has chili, bacon, and all kinds of other good shit on it?”
Her eyes went wide. “You went to Holt’s? Yes! That place is always so good, but I don’t ever have the patience to stand in line and wait for them to get to me. A thirty-minute wait is ridiculous and annoying, especially when your time is precious. Speaking of, we really only have about twenty minutes. We’re slammed right now, and we’re down two nurses. We’ll need to hurry.”
I started pulling out containers, divvying them up between her and me.
“I didn’t bring us drinks,” I muttered as I realized my mistake. “Shit.”
Conleigh abandoned her recently opened potato with the barbeque sauce practically dripping over the sides and went to the fridge.
“I have some Kool-Aid.” She looked at me with a grin. “I make it at the beginning of the week—which was yesterday—so I have something to drink. Want some?”
The way she held up the pitcher so cutely had my heart thumping weirdly in my chest.
“Uh, yeah,” I said. “I’m already going to have to spend three hours in the gym working this lunch off. What’s one more hour?”
She snickered. “I was headed to the gym today, too. But I was only going to do an hour on the elliptical. I’m always too scared to do the weights because I don’t know what I’m doing.”
An idea formed in my mind, and without thinking, I blurted it out for her to hear.
“Want to go with me?” I asked. “I have an interview tomorrow, but afterward we can go. It’ll be around ten o’clock. I can show you how to do a few exercises, and you won’t have to be embarrassed at all because I can take you to the gym at the center where the team works out. It’ll be abandoned that late in the morning.”
She snorted. “That late?”
I nodded. “That late. The players are usually there early, before six. Some of them go late, after five. During the day it’s a ghost town.”
She pursed her lips. “I guess I could do that…as long as they don’t force me to come work on my second day off, that is.”
I prayed that that wouldn’t happen.
“Good.” I paused. “Would you be interested in going to an MC party tomorrow with me? It’s a birthday celebration for a club member’s son.”
Conleigh scrunched up her nose. “I’m not really good with kids.”
I felt something inside of my chest flip funny. “Me neither but this is going to be a little bit different from what you’re used to. Rome’s son, whose birthday we’re celebrating, lost his battle to leukemia about eight months ago. Tomorrow would’ve been his fifth birthday. To ensure that Rome’s not alone, we decided to throw him a birthday party. We’re going to watch the kid’s favorite movie, eat some of his favorite food, and just celebrate his life.”