Soon the sauce was stewing and the water boiling for pasta. Her own stomach growled again at the scent of Spencer’s garlic cheese bread in the broiler oven.
“I guess it’s a good thing we’re eating earlier.” He chuckled as he spooned a sample of the sauce.
“How’d you get to be good at cooking? Most guys I know can barely boil water.”
“The same’s true for most girls I know, as well. But I’ve been cooking since I was a kid. Momma and Papa both worked, so I helped out as much as I could. Grocery shopping and cooking became my job.”
“So you were the oldest?”
“Yep, oldest of five. My youngest sister is seventeen. She’ll graduate from high school next year, and every one of us are going or have gone to college,” he said proudly. “That was their dream. Neither of my parents got to go when they were young, but they’ve both gone back to school and earned their degrees.”
He stopped to pull his bread from the oven. “Tell me about your family. I know you’ve got your sister, Charlie. When did you lose your dad?”
“I was eight years old, almost nine. But I’m glad Mom’s got someone now; she was alone for a long time.”
“Yeah, I have to admit those two look pretty happy together. It’s funny… I see them less since I’m working at Gherring Inc. instead of the restaurant next door.”
“The restaurant next door? Are you talking about Papa’s Place? The one Mom’s addicted to?”
“Yep, my Aunt May and Uncle George own it. I worked for them until I started this job. They’re great, and they really helped out raising the five of us.”
Emily was increasingly relaxed as dinner progressed. When Spencer got up and started washing the dishes, she took a moment to admire the view he presented from behind. She’d seen him in shorts before, when they’d gone climbing together, but she’d forgotten how nice his muscles were. His calves flexed even when he was simply standing at the sink. And she could see his shoulders straining against his t-shirt.
What was she doing? She shouldn’t be looking at him like that. Still, it was harmless—she was merely enjoying the show.
“... Hello? Emily?”
“I’m sorry. I was... Uhmm... I was daydreaming. What did you say?”
“I said we should go for a walk. You could change into shorts.” Then he glanced at the suitcases. “Or did you want me to help you unpack?”
Her mind churned. Unpacking would mean close contact. Walking was safer.
“A walk sounds good. I’ll go change.”
Outside, they strolled at a fairly nice pace. Emily was glad. She hated walking slowly—it felt like a waste of time, even if you didn’t have any particular place to go. She was afraid Spencer would try to hold hands or put his arm around her or something dreadful like that, but he kept his hands to himself. He carried the conversation, explaining all the things the city had to offer in the summer.
But Emily thought this was her chance to be proactive. Her mom had gotten herself in trouble by not speaking clearly about what she was thinking. With Spencer being so... What was he? Assertive—that’s what he was. Since he was so assertive, she needed to be up-front about her intentions.
“You know, Spencer. I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. I really don’t want to date anyone right now. I want to concentrate on my career.”
“I totally agree. I don’t want to date anyone either. I don’t know why people think you have to date. Why can’t people just do things together as friends? Most girls think if you have dinner together, you’ve become a couple. It’s such a relief to meet someone who thinks like me. I really don’t have time to date right now.”
“Really? You don’t want to date? You don’t want to date anyone?”
“Not now.”
“But I thought you were sort of a player. I mean, Mom said there are girls hanging around you all the time.”
“I don’t know why she said that. I mean, I have a lot of friends, and some of them are girls. But I’m not dating anyone.” Red crept up his face as he spoke.
“It’s hard to believe you aren’t dating anyone. Do these ‘friends who are girls’ know you aren’t dating them?”
“Why would it be any harder to believe I’m not dating anyone than it is to believe you’re not dating anyone?”
“I’m sorry… Fine. So you’re in a non-dating phase. If you say so, I believe you.”
“Here, let’s get a gelato. I love this place.” He led her across the street.
Emily reached into her pocket for money, but Spencer objected. “I’ll get it. It was my idea.”
“No! You can’t buy me anything.”
“Why not? Not even an ice cream?”
“No. If you pay for something, it’s a date.”
“Says who?”
“It’s our rules—me and my sister and my mom—the Best Dating Rules. It’s an official date if the guy pays for something for you or if he...” Her voice trailed off and she felt her face flushing.
“If he what?”
“Nothing. But you can’t buy me anything. Okay?”
“Whatever you say. So... Let’s go hike the AT this weekend. There’s a group going; it’s an intermediate hike, about thirteen miles.”
“Uhmm—“
He grinned as he opened the door to the gelato shop. “Okay. So we’re officially not dating. Awesome.”
“Yeah, great.” What had just happened? It seemed they were in an official relationship, albeit non-dating.*****
Spencer strolled down the corridor toward the break room to grab a cup of water. As he passed Emily’s desk,
