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“What are you doing? I can pay for my meal,” she said.
“It’s okay, I’ve got it.”
“But this isn’t a date,” she said, ignoring the definite squeak in her voice.
“I know that, but it doesn’t mean I can’t buy your lunch.”
Eve pulled out a ten-dollar bill. “I’ll leave the tip, then.”
“It’s just easier if I add it to the bill,” he said firmly. He stood up to go pay at the front and added, “If you’re nice to me, I might let you pay next time.”
He walked away, and Eve started to gather up her papers, surprised and confused. Most of the time, guys expected her to split the bill with them on dates, and yet Oliver had snatched it up for a business meeting.
Before she joined him in the front of the restaurant, she caught the server and slipped her the ten. “Thank you.”
“Thank you,” the server said.
They walked out the door, and Eve saw Oliver shaking his head.
“What?”
“Nothing, just that between the two of us, she made a twenty-dollar tip on a twenty-three-dollar meal,” he said.
Back at the car, Eve unlocked the door with a laugh. “Well, at least we made her day better.”
“You would have made a lousy soldier,” Oliver said teasingly.
Despite his lighthearted tone, Eve bristled. “Why do you say that?”
“Because every time I’ve tried to take the lead on something, you go your own way,” he said.
Though he wasn’t wrong, his assumption grated on her and reminded her of her dad, telling her when she was fifteen that she needed to stop worrying about guns and shooting ranges and concentrate on more important things, like grades and getting ready for college. The one time she’d mentioned the military, he’d laughed and told her she was too bullheaded, that she couldn’t even follow her soccer coach’s instructions.
To be fair, that coach had been an idiot.
“Ironically, that’s something my dad and you have in common,” she said.
“Thinking you’re too independent for the military? Is that a bad thing?” Strapping himself into his seat, he added, “I bet you were the rebel girl who wore ‘Question Authority’ T-shirts and turned down every dumb jock who asked you out.”
“There you go making an ass out of yourself by assuming you know me,” she said. Eve started the car and backed up before continuing. “Actually, I played soccer and never got so much as detention. And I dated at least two football players, but they weren’t stupid.”
“Huh, well look at that. You were straightlaced, and I was the guy your daddy warned you about.”
Eve merged into traffic and asked, “What kind of guy was that?”
“Let’s just say my mom had to have more than one talk with the principal, and my dad, who was a cop, didn’t appreciate having to bury pending charges when I got arrested.”
“What did you get arrested for?” she asked.
“Joyriding with my friends,” he said. “I grew up in small-town Texas, and I rode shotgun while my best friend boosted a car with three other guys. We’d been drinking a bit, and when we came around a turn, there was a cow in the road. Kenny swerved, and boom, we hit a pole head-on and had to call my dad. We were idiots. We could have all been killed, but as it was, we escaped with minor injuries and community service, but Kenny . . . Well, Kenny was driving, so he went to jail and I went into the military.”
The small voice in her head warned her to hold her tongue, but she hadn’t listened so far today. Why start now?
“You were lucky. I mean, it’s terrible about your friend, but drinking and driving is idiotic on its own without stealing a car.”
“I know that. The only reason we got off as light as we did is because my dad
was friends with the car’s owner and he spoke up for us,” he said. “If I had driven, it could have easily been me in Kenny’s place.”
