Page 38 of The Cost of Love

“It’s actually cute,” I say, trying to smother my laugh with my hand.

“No, it’s not,” she mumbles.

“Would it make you feel better if I spilled something on my shirt?”

“Maybe.”

I pick up the soy sauce and splash a little on my white button-down.

“There,” I say.

She looks up, and her eyes go big. Pressing her hand against her mouth, she gasps. “I was joking.”

I can no longer hold back my laugh, and a few seconds later, she joins me.

“Well, now we both look like children,” I say.

This makes her laugh harder, and now the person next to us is actually looking. Chanice doesn’t care. Her joy is so unbridled that it pours out of her like a rainbow. The end of it lands on me, and I feel like I am rich.

I can’t help but look at her and wish she were mine.

When we get our green tea ice cream, she still smiles through every bite, unable to contain the happiness that moment brought her.

This is all I wanted when I decided to come to her work. Just a moment to spend with her and hopefully lift some of our burdens off our shoulders. I was hoping to feel this lightness again.

After we leave, we spend the next hour just driving around the city and talking. I get that laugh out of her a few more times, and it now becomes my goal to have it happen each time we are together.

During our goodbye, she kisses me like she is trying to give me something back. I’ll take whatever she is offering so I absorb some of her joy and hold it. It stays with me over the next few days until I determine I need to see her again.

This time, I get her to agree to drinks. Promising a night of debauchery and sexual tension that will have her exploding by the time I touch her next was too much of an offer to pass up. Her catering shift finishes at 1 a.m. and she agreed to top off the night with me and tequila. Her one condition in saying yes is that no matter what, we don’t go back to my place. Like the smart girl she is, she knows I won’t be able to keep my hands off of her if we do, and she is hung up on the fact that she just sweated through a whole shift. I bet even then, she tastes good, but she won’t let me confirm.

Instead, I meet her near an alley that leads to the side of the venue. She is still in her uniform, but her hair bounces free all around her. Her vest is unbuttoned, and the tie hangs loose around her neck. She looks like a badass action film star who just solved the crime. Very James Bond.

“You look super fit,” I say when she gets close.

She frowns and rolls her eyes before popping up on her tippy toes and kissing me. I hold her close to me when she tries to lower back down. Biting on her bottom lip, I suck it between mine.

“Well, hello,” she says when I finally let her go.

“The place I have in mind, we can walk to from here,” I say.

“Oh no, sir, it’s my turn to choose.” Grabbing my hand, she drags me down the street, following the crowd of her co-workers.

One of them, a woman, keeps looking at us. Chanice waves her over.

“This is probably a bad idea, but Alex, meet my best mate Jessie.”

Jessie looks me up and down and nods her head in appreciation. Turning my wrist around to look at the back of my watch, she chuckles, then lets go.

“So you’re proper fit and have money. They only made a hundred pairs of that watch.”

I look between her and Chanice, surprised that she was able to clock that.

“It’s about time a man worth more than two pence rubbed together can recognize the value of my girl. I’m sure we can all agree that she is the prize in this situation.” Chanice elbows her, but Jessie keeps looking me in the eyes while smirking.

“I’m well aware,” I say, looking at Chanice. She looks down, biting her lip.

“Grand, now let’s see how well you can drink.” Jessie starts to walk back in the direction of the other workers. The whole way to the bar, she is talking to me about the stock market, like she is an investment banker. To say I’m impressed would be an understatement.