Page 45 of Wilder

Wilder grinned at her. “Told you.”

Lexi’s stomach flipped a little, taking her by surprise. “Guess it’s important that you have at least one talent.”

That made Wilder laugh, harder than Lexi really thought the comment was worth, but she enjoyed the sound of his laughter. “Never thought knowing that dipping a grilled cheese sandwich into tomato soup was a talent, but I’ll take it.”

As she was introduced to all these yummy foods by Wilder, Lexi wondered what else she’d been missing out on by eating strictly by numbers. She’d have to be careful, or she’d end up gaining weight. Eating high calorie food when she wasn’t training as strenuously probably wasn’t a good thing.

But that was a problem for tomorrow. Right then, she was going to enjoy her soup and sandwich. She almost wished she’d gotten a whole sandwich instead of just a half.

“Do they do takeout here?”

“Pretty sure they do,” Wilder said as he lifted his sandwich. “Wanting to take something home?”

Lexi hadn’t planned to, but now that she’d tasted the food—especially the soup—she thought it was an excellent idea. And it would help solve at least one meal debate in the near future.

“I think I’d like to take some soup home.”

“I don’t blame you. I might do that as well.”

When their waitress returned to check on them, Wilder asked her about the availability of takeout.

“We definitely do takeout,” she said. “Do you want me to bring a takeout menu for you to look over?”

“That would be great,” Wilder told her with a smile.

She came back a couple of minutes later with two smaller folded paper menus. “You can order off the main menu, but we also sell in bulk if you wanted larger portions to take home toshare or to freeze. You can take these menus with you too, in case you want to order again. That way you can call ahead.”

Wilder took the menus, then handed one to Lexi. “Thank you.”

“Just wave me down if you want to order something to go.”

As they continued to eat, they discussed the items on the take-out menu. Lexi quickly decided to get two different soups so she could freeze them for future use.

Near the end of their meal, Lexi noticed that the place was filling up. There were all kinds of people coming in. Old, young, families, couples. It didn’t surprise her now that she’d had a taste of the food.

In between greeting newcomers, the waitress stopped at their table to take their orders for takeout.

“Is this all on one bill?” she asked.

“Yes—”

“No—”

Lexi glared at Wilder. “I can pay for my own food.”

“I know that, but I don’t mind doing it.”

It seemed far too much like a date if she let him pay, so she looked up at the waitress and said, “Separate, please. And add a tub of cream of tomato soup and one of the minestrone to my bill. Thank you.”

Lexi thought Wilder might be mad at her for overriding him, but he just placed his own order for takeout. Once the waitress left, he said, “I’m sorry for assuming.”

“It’s fine. I just don’t want you to feel obligated to pay for me when we hang out. You said this wasn’t a date,” she reminded him.

“I did. And it’s not.”

“This isn’t going to be an issue, is it?” Lexi wanted to be sure that things wouldn’t become awkward between them.

“Of course not.” Wilder smiled. “I just thought that since I suggested going for dinner, I should pay.”

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