“Guess neither of us had what we wanted.” He sips his soda.
“So?” I gesture toward the food.
He chuckles. “Good find,” he compliments me.
I shrug as though it’s no big deal to bring a famous chef to a hot-dog place and have him love it.
“I found it one day with Todd.”
Davis’s eyes veer toward the wall and then come back my way. “You guys are pretty close, huh?”
“He likes to drag me on expeditions to find hidden gems and restaurants that serve great food. There was this one time—” I stop myself because I see Davis’s blank stare. I shouldn’t be talking about another man while on a date with one. That’s Dating 101. “Do you do that, too?” I round the conversation back his way.
“I used to, but I don’t have time anymore.” He wraps up his garbage into a ball and leans back on his seat. “I’ve turned into a workaholic.”
“I don’t think so. You’re here with me now.”
“Well, I made that a point. If it’s something I want, nothing stands in my way.”
“Something you want?” I wish my voice hadn’t quivered.
He leans across the table. “You, Amelia. I want you,” he whispers.
I attempt to slow my breathing before my head can fall to the table after I faint.
“Oh.”
He laughs, venturing back to his side of the table. “Stop the flushing because it makes it extremely difficult not to drag you home with me.”
His comment only heats up my cheeks more.
“You ready?”
“I am.” He collects our garbage and throws it out.
We jump on the train again. Our legs and shoulders press against one another, and his hand feels warm in mine. This feeling of having someone to share the day with excites me. That yearning to be loved and love another begins to overwhelm me. Could Davis be the guy, the one I’ve been waiting for?
“Are you okay?” Davis’s voice brings me back to the present.
I swallow deep and find his brown eyes overflowing with concern. “I’m perfect.”
He releases my hand and wraps his arm around my shoulders, pulling me to him. “You shivered,” he mumbles.
I lay my head on his shoulder, letting him distract me from my thoughts.
* * *
Buzz.
Buzz.
My hand lands on my nightstand, blindly feeling for my phone. I grab it and hold it out in front of me. I squint to see the name.
“Todd.” I sigh.
My finger swipes across the phone. “What?” I clear my throat after I hear how groggily my voice sounds.
“I’m waiting downstairs. Get your sweet ass up if you still want this favor.”
The line goes dead.
“Shit.” What is wrong with me? I can’t be on time for anything to save my life. I scramble out of bed, grab my robe, and run into the bathroom.
Ten minutes later, I’m steadily walking down the hall while tossing my hair into a ponytail when my feet skid to a stop. I purse my lips, and my arm covers my mouth to keep me from laughing.
Tatiana is passed out on the couch. One arm is hanging over the side, and her other hand is still resting on the keyboard of her laptop that’s propped up on her stomach. She was typing away last night when I came home, so after a quick hello and a recap about my date with Davis, I left her alone and went to my room.
I tiptoe over to the couch and slowly move her hand off the keys. Then, I slide the laptop off her stomach. She groans, but I place it on the table, noticing she has an unread email from last night. I close the laptop then pick up her other arm and rest it on her stomach. She mumbles something I can’t understand and rolls to her side.
I chuckle a little bit as I quietly leave our apartment.
Todd is waiting with his hazard lights on outside our building. He agreed to get his Jeep out of storage for a day in order to help me take some of my pieces to Bette to look at. I’m well aware that I’ll be leaving as a basket case after she ridicules them, but whatever.
I slide into his cloth seat, and my door rattles shut. I’d make a joke about his piece-of-shit car right now, but he’s doing me a favor, and I was late. I think I’ll stay under the radar for a little while.
“Late, as usual.” Todd shakes his head.
I look up at his smirk after strapping my seat belt in.
“Here.” He pulls a coffee out from the back and hands it to me.
“You are the best.” I lean over, and my lips slide on his clean-shaven cheek while I take the coffee from his hand.
“So they say.” He shrugs and starts the Jeep up.
“Don’t get too conceited now.” I tentatively bring the coffee to my lips, testing for hotness. “See? If I wasn’t late, my coffee would have been too hot. Now, it’s just right.” I giggle before taking a bigger sip to jolt that caffeine into my body.
“Good to know.” He pulls into traffic.
Luckily, some of my newer pieces are held in the same storage facility as his car, so I gave him the key to my locker, and he picked them up for me.
“Can we talk?” I nibble on my lip, waiting for his reaction.
“Don’t overthink it, Noodle. I just have some shit going on.” He grabs his own coffee and concentrates on the road.
“What? You can always talk to me.” I place my hand on his thigh, and he examines it.
He picks up my hand, squeezes it once, and places it back on my lap.
What the hell?
“I know. I just have to get a handle on this myself first.”
I don’t want to pry, but I sense something more is going on. I’ll push for answers later.
I glance to the back of the Jeep. “How do they look?”
They’re all protected with bubble wrap and placed so the frames won’t break. They aren’t the best frames, but if Bette agrees to showcase me, I’ll have them professionally matted.
“You tell me not to be conceited, but you put me into a room filled with pictures of myself. I had no idea I was that gorgeous.”
He shoots me a smile, and I almost knock into him when he turns at the light.
The traffic isn’t bad at this time on a Saturday morning, but give it an hour, and it will be horrendous. That’s why I have to give Todd an extra special thank-you, because he’s going above and beyond right now.
“You are gorgeous. I’ll give you that. Just start watching your selfie intake.”
“My selfies? See, you’re mistaken. You’re the only one who can photograph me.”
He winks, and I shake my head.
“I’m friends with you on Facebook, Todd. I see the gym selfies popping up on my Feed every ten minutes when you’re on there. Your whole page is filled with gym selfies or food.” I laugh.
He pulls up in front of Art on Wells, and my hand moves to open the door, but Todd’s hand lands on my leg. My whole thigh heats under his touch.
“Do I appear shallow?” he asks.
From his dull eyes, I can tell I’ve upset him.
“No!” I cover his hand with mine. “Believe me, the girls probably eat it up.”
“What do you think? I feel like that’s all I do lately—go to work out and cook.”
His hand slides from my leg, but I clutch it with mine.
“Let’s make a point to do more stuff. Find me a gem, and let’s seek it out.”
We haven’t searched out a hole in the wall with excellent food in a while.
“It’s a date.”
We smile at one another and both escape out our own doors.
“Of course, your date card might be getting filled up soon,” he says when I meet him at the back of the truck.
“It’s never too full for you.” I tilt my head and flutter my eyelids a few times.
“It’d better not be. I’m the number one guy in your life.” His arms are full of photos, and he bends down, placing a kiss on my forehead. “Now, open the door for me.”
I rush over to the door, inserting the key into the lock. Although Bette’s ass is in her office, she refuses to leave the door unlocked, even knowing I’m coming in this morning.
“Thanks.” Todd shuffles through the door.
I follow him in and instruct him to place the pictures on the back table.