Page 15 of Sack

She shook her head. “But we’re a close second. Off the top of my head, I can’t remember how many slices we consume every second, but it’s a lot.” She grew quiet a moment, then mumbled, “Sorry.”

“For what?”

“As my brother puts it, my nerd was showing. I tend to babble useless facts.”

Colt’s jaw hardened. Her damn brother. He should’ve punched him while he had the chance. “Don’t ever apologize for being you.”

She smiled up at him. “Even if I bore you to tears?”

Somehow he doubted that could be possible. “I’ll make you a deal. If that ever happens, I’ll let you know.”

Her smile grew broader. “Deal.”

They reached his car. He pressed the button to unlock it and opened the passenger-side door. He waited for her to climb in before shutting it and walking around the front to get in on the driver’s side.

He’d just closed his door when she said, “This is a really nice car. Again, I’m sorry for hitting you. I’m glad it’s still drivable.”

He pressed the starter button and the car roared to life. “Accidents happen. Don’t worry about it.”

“I called my insurance company today and claimed full responsibility. You shouldn’t have any trouble on your end.”

He nodded dismissively, wanting to move on from the topic. He hated that she still worried about it. He racked his brain for something else to talk about. Unfortunately, conversation wasn’t one of his strong suits. He fell back on their prior topic. “Ever been to Mama Rosa’s?”

“No. But I’ve been meaning to go. I hear the pizza there is amazing.”

Colt nodded. “One of Portland’s best. Won’t eat pizza any place else.”

She didn’t respond and the silence dragged. He tried again. “You like pepperoni?”

“Yes. Pepperoni. Sausage. Canadian bacon. I love all the meat.”

Chuckling, he quickly glanced her direction.

Her head was bowed, shaking back and forth. “That did not come out how I meant it to.”

They stopped at a red light and he turned in time to see her raise her head. With flushed cheeks, her tongue darted out to moisten her lips. His dick hardened, surprising him so much, he lost concentration. It wasn’t until a horn honked behind them that he noticed the light had changed to green. He hit the gas, his hands tightening on the steering wheel and jaw tensing at the reminder she was a distraction.

The restaurant came into view and Colt made a right into the parking lot. The place was busy, and he had to circle around twice before he found a spot.

“I hope they have a table.” Ivy was looking out her side window, scanning the full lot.

“This place is always busy. But most of these cars are probably from people getting their pizzas to-go.”

“Well, that’s a relief. We wouldn’t get much accomplished if the place was too crowded. I’m sure you always get a lot of people asking for your autograph.”

He unbuckled his seat belt. “We won’t need to worry about that.”

“We won’t? Why not?”

He opened his car door. “You’ll see.”

She followed suit, opening hers. “Are we getting ours to-go, too, and eating in the car?”

He cringed at the thought of grease stains on his leather seats. “Definitely not.”

As predicted, there was a long line at the pick-up window but only a handful of people sat in the waiting area. He didn’t stop at the hostess podium. With a hand at the small of Ivy’s back, Colt guided her through the dining area to a door marked employees only.

“Won’t we get in trouble?”

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