“Taco meat reheats well, so it’s a good solo meal, although I’ll admit I only put the chicken on when you told me you were coming. It seemed better to have options.”
He watched her get plates down from a cabinet and put two beside each other on the island. She handed Josh a fistful of silverware. Then she walked over to grab a few more things from the fridge.
“In case you didn’t figure this out from our prior meals together,” said Josh, “I’m basically an omnivore. If it’s food, I’ll probably eat it. Well, except I’m allergic to melon. Makes me break out in hives.”
“Good to know. So the cantaloupe and honeydew salad I made for dessert is out.”
“You didn’t, did you?”
She laughed. “No. I don’t have much for dessert. Maybe some ice cream.”
“Or, uh, you.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really? That’s presumptuous.”
“You’re the one who invited me over.”
“True. You want a beer?”
“Yes.”
Paige handed him a bottle and an opener, then she got a beer for herself and a container of sour cream out of the fridge. She sat on the booth beside him and said, “Dig in.”
Josh deliberately brushed her hand as much as he could as they assembled their tacos. He made a pretty big plate, as he was suddenly starving.
“Oh, I forgot the hot sauce,” said Paige, hopping back up. “And do you want olives? I’ve got some black olives in the fridge.”
“Sure?”
“My dad always puts olives on tacos. I didn’t know that was weird until a guy I dated a few years ago pointed it out.”
“I don’t think it’s weird. I love olives. Bring them on.”
“Okay, cool.”
As Josh bit into his first taco, Paige finally sat next to him and finished assembling her plate. He waited until she seemed satisfied with what she’d put together before he spoke.
“This is delicious, by the way. I like the spice blend on the beef.”
“Yeah, I made it myself. From a recipe on the internet, but still. Well, I swapped out the chili powder for chipotle powder. It’s smokier and has a little more of a punch.”
“You cook a lot?”
“I like cooking, yeah.” Paige looked at the feast arrayed on the counter. “My friend Lindsay is this big foodie. Went to culinary school and everything.Shecan cook. I’m self-taught and really just do this for myself.”
“Hey, that’s fine. I can’t really cook. I mean, I can do basic things like boil water for pasta and heat things up in a microwave, but so much of my adult life has been grabbing food on the way to the next thing that I never took the time to cook a big meal.”
“How old are you?”
Josh wondered if he should be offended by the question. “I’m twenty-eight.”
“And law school only takes three years. What did you do between undergrad and law school?”
He smirked. He’d gotten this question a lot in law school, although he wasn’t that much older than his classmates. A lot of people graduated, tried something, and then went back to school. “I decided to go into politics when I finished undergrad. I worked on Senator Green’s election campaign, and he liked me so much he made me part of his staff. And after two years of that, I realized I couldn’t do much as a low-level staffer, so I decided to go to law school.”
“Interesting. I feel like I’m seeing a whole new side of you. Green is the senator from Ohio that is gung-ho about the environment, right?”
“Among other things, yeah.”
