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She laughs, then abruptly stops as if purposefully cutting it short. “Yep, you must be a real freak.”
I laugh, not stopping mine. Right now, I’m doing what I promised myself I wouldn’t. I’m flirting with her, getting closer to passion.
“Only when it comes to you.”
“Come on, Miles.” She shoots me a look. “We can’t…”
“Okay, I’ll try.”
I leave the suburbs, driving toward the city.
“I’ll give you directions when we get closer,” she says, the first words we have spoken in minutes.
“Why are you going in so early, anyway?” I ask.
“I’ve got the lunch shift and need to do some prep. Plus, I’m allowed to use the kitchen for a while before work on lunch-shift days. Graham isn’t in until the evening, so he can’t give me any crap about it.”
“He shouldn’t be giving you crap anyway,” I growl.
“It’s fine. I can take it.”
“But you shouldn’thaveto take it. He’s got no right to ride you just because you want to do the same job as him one day. If anything, he should help and encourage you. Countless restaurants would love to have somebody as enthusiastic—not to mention talented—as you.”
“Thanks for saying that,” she mutters, “but I’m not sure you’re right. I can’t risk storming out and looking for somewhere else, especially since I’m gaining so much experience here.”
“How bad is he?” I ask.
She sighs, staring out the window.
“What’s wrong?”
“Just… this.” She fiddles with a loose thread on her pants, then lets her hand drop. “We can’t speak about this stuff.”
“Your work? Why not?”
“Aboutanythingpersonal. Anything that involves you supporting me. Anything that makes it way too freaking tempting to get involved with each other. If we’re going to survive this, we have to keep it surface level.”
“I don’t think I can do that,” I say gruffly. “There’s no surface with us. There’s only—”
“We’reallsurface,” she interrupts. “How can you say that? This is, what, thesecondproper conversation we’ve ever had? The third?”
I clench my jaw as I stop at a red light, allowing me to study her. There’s so much pain in her posture, her hands clasped in her lap.
“That doesn’t mean we can’t get to know each other better. It also doesn’t mean I can’t want to help you.”
“What are you going to do? Beat up Graham?”
I laugh savagely. “I won’t lie. I’d like to.”
“Why?”
“Because he’s making your life more difficult than it has to be. That’s more than enough reason in my book.”
“You can’t beat up every guy who acts like a jerk toward me.”
“I can try.”
She finally turns from the window, looking at me with a small smile tugging at her lips. “You’re impossible. Do you know that? I’m trying to be good here.”
