“Cinnamon, huh?” Lukas chuckled. “Well, it was the best thing we used to eat back in those days.”
I grinned. He wasn’t wrong about that. On the days that were worse than others, our food options were pretty grim. “You don’t miss the fried baloney or ketchup sandwiches?”
Lukas paled. “Don’t remind me of such things before our meals arrive.”
“Oh, come on. They weren’t that bad. Every now and then, I still get a craving for the former.”
“For fried baloney?” he asked incredulously.
“What’s wrong with that?”
“Everything. Everything is wrong with that.”
I shrugged. “Suit yourself. But you said it. Nostalgia tastes good.”
He shook his head. “It does not apply to everything. Did you know I don’t like potatoes because we used to eat so much of them? Three meals a day, day after day after day, of damn potatoes and wax beans. No, I can’t do it.”
It was my turn to smirk. “Peasant food is no longer good enough for you, Mr. Important?”
“Hey, it’s not like that and you know it.”
“I think maybe you’re a little spoiled now.”
He studied me before his impassive expression softened into a smile. “Maybe I am.”
“Maybe?” I laughed.
“No need to rub it in.”
I continued poking fun at him and enjoyed how he didn’t prickle or get gruff with me like he had when we first started discussing how we might work together. He was no longer the tough and standoffish businessman. Tonight, he was showing me the colors of his youth. He laughed easily, teased me back, and brought up pieces of our childhood I thought he might have forgotten.
For the first time, I felt close to him again.
There was a brief moment in time when I was quite young that things had felt just like this between us. Gender and attraction and chemistry hadn’t come into the mix yet because we were both too young to feel or understand such things, so we were just friends. We got along well, played together, joked together, and all around enjoyed each other’s company. But as time went on, things changed. He was a few years older than me, so looking back, it made sense that he tired of the same old routine with a girl the same age as his little sister. Where he wanted to buckle down and start making money, I still wanted to play and explore. I found the friendship I wanted and needed with Lisa, and Lukas found it with his computer.
The arrival of our food reminded me of how different my life and Lukas’ were. The waitress set down a large tray that nearly took up the entire surface of the table. It was overflowing with dishes of seafood, pasta, hors d’oeuvres, and other things I couldn’t visibly distinguish. Lukas began taking a little bit of everything and putting it on a small plate while I dipped a French fry in ketchup and popped it in my mouth.
He looked pointedly at my plate. “How are your potatoes?”
“Just call them fries like a normal person.”
“I can’t. Potatoes are potatoes to me.”
“Don’t ruin a good thing for me, okay? French fries are one of my favorite foods.”
“You need to get out more, Kayla.”
I threw a fry across the table at him. It hit him right in the chest and fell into his lap.
Lukas gave me a devilish smile. “Careful. This is an expensive suit.”
“There’s no way you’re going to wear that thing again. You trashed it at the farm.”
“Nothing a good dry clean can’t fix.”
Who was he bullshitting? I leaned forward, rested my forearms on the table, and arched an eyebrow. “So you’re telling me that you’d pay to get this dry cleaned, and then you would wear it to the office for work? Or to a function?”
He shifted in his seat. “Yes, why not?”
“All right, I believe you. Wear it for your next interview with Rebecca Mills.”
“I—” Lukas paused and looked away.
“You what?” I liked being the one doing the interrogating now. The tables had turned and I was in the driver’s seat and it was giving me a rush. Sure, I knew I was being a little childish. What was more, I knew this was a bad strategy to play into when he and I were supposed to be keeping things professional. All this teasing and flirting had the air between us snapping and popping with chemistry. Wishfully, I told myself I was the only one feeling it.
Realistically?
I knew that wasn’t the case based solely on the way he was looking at me. He looked at me like he was slowly unraveling my soul one strand of tangled Christmas lights at a time. And he was enjoying it.
Lukas sighed. “I think a wise man knows when to admit defeat. You’re right. I doubt I’ll ever wear the suit again.”
“You should donate it.”
He laughed. “I should’ve known you’d say that.”
“Get used to it, champ.”
His grin broadened. “It’s been a hell of a long time since someone called me champ.”
Over the rest of dinner, we teased each other about our childhood nicknames and all the silly things we did over the years. Lukas had been called champ by Lenny, the owner of the diner in Lisa’s apartment building. The first time I’d ever heard him referred to by that name, I’d adopted it and started calling him it, too. Lukas never seemed to mind. In fact, he seemed to enjoy it. The nickname was used with affection and warmth and I was using it the same way now.
Lukas resigned himself to the fact that he couldn’t fit another bite of food in his belly long after I’d already finished eating.
“Do you want to get out of here and go for a walk down by the Sound?” he asked. “It’s just a ten-minute drive from here.”
Every cell of logic in my body screamed at me to tell him no. Walking along the Sound at night was a bad idea. A very
