Page 12 of Fierce-Michael

Kelly winked and he squinted at her. “Could have heard that a time or two also.”

A flush went through her body. She liked to flirt, but she had to work extra hard here.

He didn’t seem put off by it though.

They moved over to his SUV. She noticed the booster seat in the back but nothing more. The inside was pretty clean.

Cleaner than her car.

“Are you a neat freak? I should know that going in.”

“I don’t think so,” he said. “Why?”

“I expected your car to be messier with a child.”

“We don’t leave trash or anything in it. I’m sure there is a toy back there somewhere. Are you one of those people who always has a drink or snack in their car?”

“Guilty,” she said. “I might have a few half-finished water bottles in there.”

“Why half finished?” he asked.

“Sometimes I forget they have something in them and bring another.”

“Do you think you are going to get stranded or something on your fifteen-minute drive to work and die of thirst?”

She started to laugh. “My father says the same thing to me. It drives him nuts. I’ve always been this way. Sometimes I get in the car and I’m thirsty and it’s right at my fingertips. I thought parents were like that with their kids. Always prepared.”

“Not quite,” he said. “Ty grabs water himself if he wants and takes it out of the car also. If we are in the car and he’s hungry or thirsty, depending on where we are going or what is going on, he waits or I stop to get him something. I’m not rigid enough to plan every minute.”

“Thank God for that,” she said. “Many might say I don’t plan a lot at all, but I don’t think that is true.”

“Considering you need a bottle of water for a fifteen-minute commute, I’d say you plan more than you think.”

“Did you just make a joke?” she asked. “I’m so proud of you.”

“Not a joke as much as a statement.”

“I’ll think of it as a little joke,” she said. “You know, wiggling something out of your pinky toe.”

“Are you always this chipper? Should I know that going in?”

She laughed. “Come on now. That was a joke. Admit it.”

“Maybe a little one,” he said.

“I’m getting to you,” she said, pointing at him.

“Could be,” he said.

But he didn’t add any more and they drove the next few minutes with the music playing.

Something seemed off or maybe he didn’t want to be on this date.

Oh well, she wouldn’t throw the towel in just yet. It wasn’t going to kill them to have that drink and chat.

And since they had to work together at times, she was going to make sure it at least didn’t end awkwardly.

He parked at a restaurant she’d never been to before. It looked nice though on the outside.

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