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“Wow. That is not even close to what you chose to do. Why?” I asked.
“Well, there are a few reasons why, but one very important reason.” He sighed and said, “I think your aunt's cooking is still better than mine.”
I burst out laughing. “Impossible.”
“No. Really. She puts too much spice and everything I cook has the same flavor. And texture too. My parents refused to let me in the kitchen any longer because they said they were spending too much money on food that was only going in the trash.”
“Why didn’t you take a cooking class? Maybe you just needed a little coaching,” I said.
“Are you offering?” he grinned.
“Well, I did bring my medical bag,” I replied.
“What does that have to do with teaching me to cook?” he asked.
“Nothing. But I like to be prepared. You know, just in case you ask me to taste it afterwards,” I joked.
His mouth gaped open and his hand over his heart. “Oh, the pain,” he said, being overdramatic.
Playing along, I said, “Don’t worry. It’s probably the heartburn from my aunt’s cooking yesterday.”
“Well then, I guess you and I should get out of here, and head back to the resort. Maybe a nice romantic walk on the beach would make it all better,” he suggested.
“Hmm. I’m not sure if the beach is safe,” I replied.
“Meri, I’m sure it is,” he said in a serious tone.
I chucked. “I mean, I just removed your stitches earlier from the last adventure you had on the beach. There are only so many medical supplies I carry in that bag.”
“Any condoms?” he said jokingly, then immediately stammered trying to apologize.
Was I thrown by his comment? Heck yes. I’d never been around anyone who was so bold as to say something like that. But I wasn’t offended. “Ryker, don’t worry about it. I’m a grown woman. I know all about sex. But to answer your question, no. That’s not the kind of emergency I normally treat. But maybe I should reconsider what I pack going forward,” I said jokingly.
“Only when you’re with me,” he said.
That didn’t feel like a joke at all. Yes, we were playing the role of dating. Were we getting caught up in the feelings that went along with it? Maybe. But even if this was all an act, this had been the best date I’d ever been on.
“Maybe you were right, and we should get going,” I stated. We had fulfilled what Bennett had asked, but I wasn’t sure what the rest of the night had in store for us. Part of me was excited to find out if this was going to continue when we were behind closed doors.
When we left the restaurant, we walked holding hands back to the SUV that was waiting for us. “Is that a bowling alley?” Ryker asked.
“It is. I haven’t been. It only opened a couple of months ago.” Another thing I never had time to do, but was on my list of things to try.
“Do you enjoy bowling?” he asked.
“I never tried it?” I admitted.
“Not even when you were in Boston?” he said, sounding shocked.
“I was in nursing school There was no time for bowling or anything else.” When I wasn’t in school, I was studying for extra credit courses. “My time in Boston was strictly business.”
“Then let’s go bowling.”
“Right now?” I asked. And he nodded. “Don’t you think we should go back to the resort? I mean, look at the time,” I said, reminding him of Bennett’s timetable.
“One game won’t take that long. Unless you’re afraid I’ll beat you?” he teased.
“I’m not afraid of losing. I totally expect to lose. But I thought you wanted to be back at the resort by a certain time,” I hinted again.
