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“I can’t believe you’re really seeing this through,” Ethan said.
“Our guy can’t yield in the face of a challenge,” Lance said. “Have you ever seen him blink first?”
No, no one had seen it because it had never happened. He set his sights on something and did everything in his power to achieve his goal. In business, it was so routine, it was almost rote. Rainie, his personal, she was no routine, and he doubted she ever would be.
5
Rainie was busy thinking about her client’s latest request when she glided into the coffee shop. Something in her subconscious must’ve taken her attention to the table she’d shared with Alex the previous day. He hadn’t been in her thoughts until she saw him sitting there looking at her. She stopped, her head angling in question.
He smiled and gave a deliberate two fingered salute. That could’ve been the sum total of their interaction if he hadn’t stood up and opened an arm toward the table containing more than just his coffee. Heading over to the spread, two cups stood with three plates containing different foods. A salad, a sandwich, and the third held a muffin.
“I didn’t know what you’d like,” he said, going around to stand at the back of the chair she’d sat in last time. “Will you join me?”
“Uh… okay,” she said because at least there was coffee. The lunch line always took valuable time to get through. As she sat, he pushed the chair in under her. “You just happened to be here today?”
He swung himself around into his own seat. “I came to see you. To have lunch with you.”
Surprising. Flattering. Sweet. Being new in town, he probably didn’t have a lot of friends. She didn’t mind being a comfort.
“Don’t you have any consulting to do today?” she asked, accepting the coffee when he offered it to her hand.
“I work from home at the moment. So I need to take breaks too.”
“And you’re just across the street?” she asked, enjoying the cool liquid. “It was smart to come in before I got here.” His brows rose in question. “You got through the line with clean clothes. Smart move.”
He laughed. “That was the plan.” He pushed one plate toward her and then the next. “What would you like to eat? I can go back up and get whatever you want. I almost got one of everything but thought that might be cheating.”
“And expensive,” she said, pointing to the muffin on the other side of the table. “I don’t like the statement salad makes, so I’ll choose number three, please.”
At lunch, she didn’t usually bother eating, but since it was there…
“Good choice,” he said, picking up the plate to put it in front of her. “Do you have any allergies? I wasn’t sure about dairy or nuts… But I figured the frap is dairy, so you should be good there.”
“No,” she said, peeling away the muffin paper. “I’m not allergic to anything… nothing I’ve found yet anyway. I’m lucky that way. It must be a horrible way to live, worried about something as fundamental as food. Are you allergic to anything?”
“Idiocy.”
Smiling, she glanced up at him quick. “Then I’m surprised you want to be friends with me.” Picking up the knife from the side of the plate, she cut the muffin in two. “Share it with me.”
“No, I’m good. I got it for you.”
“And I’m a woman in my twenties. If I eat a whole muffin by myself, the guilt will eat me alive.”
“The guilt?”
“Sure,” she said, putting the knife down. “Why do you think I rejected the salad? I’m only a leaf eater in private. Everywhere we look women are told to diet. Told we’re not good enough. Told we have to be desirable at all times, just in case we happen to walk into a man’s eye line. It doesn’t matter what we want, or how we feel, so long as we’re not an embarrassment to the men in our lives.”
“You’re in my life and I’m not embarrassed,” he said. “And I think you’re beautiful, Button.”
It was sweet of him to say. “Thank you… But you’re not exactly our target audience.” Reaching across the table, she was pleased that he’d got napkins. “I always get napkins. For someone like me, it makes sense. There’s always a good chance of spillage. If I don’t use them, they just get stuffed all the way down to the bottom of my purse. I pull out half a tree once a month, it’s such a waste.” Putting one half of the muffin on a napkin for herself, she pushed the plate toward him. “This food is a waste too. You should wrap it up to go… Save you cooking later. Do you cook?”
“Uh, no, not really.”
“That’s a shame,” she said, licking her fingertips. “There’s something strangely satisfying about the sight of a man in the kitchen. Don’t ask me what it is. Cooking is a sign of self-sufficiency, that’s what my roommate, Gwenie, says. A man shouldn’t wait for a woman to take care of him, he should do it for himself.” Inhaling, she took her attention from the muffin to pick up her coffee. “Sorry, I’m waffling… again.”
“I like it when you waffle,” he said, always being so kind. “How many roommates do you have?”
“Two,” she said, tearing off part of her muffin. “Gwendolyn and Tia.” She popped the sweet treat between her lips to let it fall apart on her tongue. “Mm…” A moan, which was probably far too loud, escaped her throat. “I can’t remember the last time I had any kind of cake or dessert.”
