Page 4 of Take the Bait

This man had talked for the last 30 minutes straight. He hadn’t even bought her dinner or given her the chance to have a bite of the shrimp cocktail he ordered.

And now he thought she washeading back to his place?

Tears streamed down her face as she clutched her stomach.

“Oh my god, I’m getting a cramp,” she said breathily between laughs.

The chef was staring at her, an amused grin playing on his lips.

Josh looked confused and frustrated. “Well, if you stop laughing, we can head back now.”

This started another round of laughter for Hanna. “Oh my god, stop it, I’m gonna pee my pants.”

“What’s so funny?

“You—think—I’m—” Hanna lost it again, unable to recover and find her words.

“I can’t understand you.” Josh sighed.

“I’ll take a stab at it,” Sexy Chef chimed in. “I think this woman seems to find it hilarious that you think she’s going home with you. Am I right?”

Sexy Chef looked at her with a quirked brow, and Hanna started nodding and pointing at him, still laughing too hard to say anything. She looked back at Josh, who appeared hurt.

She started feeling bad, her giggles dwindling, until he said, “I thought we had a nice connection.”

Hanna wailed with laughter, even harder than before.

And then, the unthinkable happened.

She burped.

Sheburped.

It was a burp that spanned across time zones, across planes, across dimensions.

A burp so loud—solegendary—that people throughout the restaurant stopped their talking to see what the commotion was.

Part of her wished her dad was there to see it.

But only a small part.

Because most of her was mortified within an inch of her life.

As the last stretches of the belch exited her body, she covered her mouth with her hands and felt her eyes widen.

Josh and Sexy Chef stared at her, jaws hanging loose.

“Ugh, disgusting,” Josh finally said. “I can’t believe I ever wanted to introduce you to my mom.”

He got up and left the table.

And then, Sexy Chef tipped his head back and laughed—almost as hard as Hanna had been laughing earlier.

So she did the only rational thing one could do in this situation.

She took her wallet out, tossed a $20 on the table, and ran.

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