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“What to?” he asks, mouth still full.
“Being in the jail for family disappointments.”
“It’s not a toast without a drink,” he grins, jumping to his feet. “Do you want a beer? I got some with my order, they’re some of my favorite.”
What harm can one do? We’ve already done enough stupid stuff for today, I don’t think I have any more impulsivity left in me. “Yeah, please.”
I swear he’s about to wink as he dashes off to the fridge and it makes that lightness swell inside me again. It looks like the day’s mishaps have been forgotten, or at least buried. Whatever we’ve got is stronger than some high-adrenaline argument, and I feel dumb for doubting that.
I’ve never had a friend like Joel and from the sounds of it, he’s never had a friend this close either.
“Do you need a glass?” he calls from the fridge.
“Nah. What kind of household do you think this is?”
He lumbers back over to me and holds the can out. “Thanks,” I say as I reach for it, but his hand isn’t where I think it is and I end up brushing against his finger as I grab the can. We hold there for a long second, our hands almost holding, our eyes locked like we’re both trying to say something that the other is refusing to understand.
If he was psychic, he’d see that I’m thinking about the way his eyes are the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen, and how much I’d like to stare at them all night.
Then he pulls away, clearing his throat slightly, and the moment shatters around us, falling to the floor like dust.
Joel sits back down and holds his beer out to me. “Here’s to the disappointments.”
“To the disappointments,” I say, tapping my can against his, hoping he’s just as disappointed that I’m not in his arms as I am.
CHAPTER21
JOEL
“You’re right, this is good,” Anna says as she takes a sip of beer. “It’s kind of sweet.”
“But in a fruity way, not a gross one, right?”
“Yeah, that’s exactly it!”
She takes another sip and I don’t even pretend not to watch the way her lips wrap around the can. There was a spark when we touched hands. I know she felt it too. I saw her eyes, and I know what someone’s eyes look like when they’re attracted to you. I’ve seen it enough.
Now the question is how to bring it up without getting it wrong.
“You’ll have to teach me how to cook like this,” I say. Flattery is always a good start.
She bites her lip and shrugs awkwardly. “It’s not that much. It’s not like great cuisine.”
“Yeah, but I can’t cook at all. You’re good at it. You shouldn’t talk bad about yourself like that.”
She looks up from her food to fix me with a highly suspicious raised eyebrow. “Right. Because you’re the expert at not self-deprecating.”
“I just say what’s true. You’re good at cooking, you’re smart, and you’re pretty good-looking too.”
“Shut up,” she says in the way you do when you haven’t got a better comeback and you’re really embarrassed about the whole situation. But it wasn’t ashut upin the kind of way that really meantbe quiet.
I’m taking it as a win.
I’m also super hungry because we haven’t really eaten since gelato and that was hours ago. Where did that easy atmosphere go? Why did I have to freak out?
She’s right though, of course. We’re both guilty of talking ourselves down. For the first time in my life, Anna makes me want to believe that I’m more than a dumb, sexy billionaire. It’s like I could almost be Joel Lockhart, renowned CEO, not just outrageous Joel with his pants down again.
As I eat, I try to figure out what to say next to get the conversation going. I’m desperate to ask her why she kissed me and what it meant, but I don’t know broach the subject.
