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She could only smile in return as the waitress brought them their food.
He would have called.
After a couple bites of her salad, she turned to Lorenzo. “What would you have said?”
“I would have asked you to have dinner with me.”
“Just like that?” Katrina asked with a laugh, one that deepened as he dramatically placed a hand over his heart.
“Ouch. And yes, just like that. I did tonight, didn’t I?”
“No, lover boy,” Justin said, “I suggested this.”
“Tomorrow,” Katrina explained. “We’re having dinner tomorrow.”
“Lover boy,” Lorenzo scoffed.
Justin shrugged. “Just sayin.”
“What is this dinner tomorrow you speak of?” Judith asked, her eyes gleaming. “Is this a date I hear?”
Katrina shifted in her chair, her cheeks heating, and Lorenzo was silently watching her.
“A ha! I knew it! I knew you two couldn’t be in the same vicinity and not beyou two.” Judith sat back with a smile. “And don’t look at me all doe eyed and innocent, either.”
“I’m not innocent,” Lorenzo pointed out, though all Katrina could think about at that moment was how he had been.
And his innocence had been taken from him.
Could she get past the feeling that she was overstepping boundaries with him?
“I’m fine, you know,” Lorenzo said softly as he leaned in closer to her while Judith and Justin spoke amongst themselves about who noticed first. “I’ve been dealing with this for years, Trina.”
“And you deal with it well,” she replied, her voice just as soft. “Please, though, if I ever cross a line I shouldn’t, promise you’ll tell me.”
“I promise.”
“Hey, Lorenzo,” Justin said, getting his attention as well as Katrina’s. “I’m going to play big brother here. Yeah, yeah, I know I’m not, but just hear me out. If you ever pull your disappearing act again, if you ever hurt my sister the way you did before, I’m kicking your ass. MMA fighter or not,” he added. “Hurt Trina and it’s on. How did you get into that, by the way?”
“I just happened upon a fighting ring while I was looking for a place to crash for the night.” Lorenzo shrugged. “I had a lot of aggression to get out and it was a great outlet to do it in. I still fight sometimes.”
“When was your last fight?” Justin asked.
“Fighting ring?” Judith added. “Sounds illegal as hell to me.”
“I’m not saying it’s all above board, but yeah, um...last night was my last fight.” He held up his shirt to show a bruise on his side. “It was brutal, but I won.”
“Ren—”
“How do you think I came up with the money for the bar?” he cut Katrina off, again with his lazy smile.
Katrina pushed her salad around on her plate. “I don’t know, a job maybe.”
“Construction,” he said. “Turns out I’m good with my hands.”
Katrina’s blush deepened as she remembered exactly how good with his hands he was. How would she react tomorrow when it was just the two of them? Her heart began to race at the thought and she concentrated on her salad. “Sounds like you have everything together. Do you still work construction?”
“Some,” he said, then he turned in Justin’s direction as more questions about mixed martial arts were fired in his direction.
