Page 23 of The Woman in the Garage

“Not the best at customer service, huh?” I asked Lucky with a smirk as I wrote down an order.

“Guys like that are always giving the girls a hard time,” Lucky said, nodding toward the teen girls who were milling around the place, all smiles despite the hectic vibe in the air. “Don’t have the fucking patience for it. So, that’s her, huh?” he asked, glancing over at Dasha as he grabbed a ladle of sauce and spread it across the round dough.

What use was there in denying it?

“Yeah, that’s her.”

“You’re right. Got a lot of pretty. Hopefully, she’s worth blowing up your career. On a totally unrelated note, did you know there’s a movie in the park tonight?”

“Yeah?” I asked.

“Yeah. Overheard some customers saying they were taking their food there. On another unrelated note, Via keeps a picnic basket complete with a waterproof blanket in my trunk, in case we want to have a random picnic with the kids.”

“Yeah?” I asked, all sorts of ideas forming.

“Keys are on my desk,” he said, waving me off as he spread pepperoni over the pizza, then immediately got started on making another.

Was it a horrible idea to order a bunch of food from Lucky’s, pack it into a picnic basket, then make my way over to Dasha, intent on taking her for an impromptu date in the park?

Yeah, probably.

But I had a feeling it would be worth it.

“What’s this?” Dasha asked, looking from the picnic basket to me.

“Heard there’s a movie playing in the park tonight,” I told her. “Figured that might be a good time, if you’re interested.”

“I’m never going to turn down a movie in the park. Wait, I need to pay,” she said as I made my way to the door.

“No, you don’t.”

“You can’t just keep paying for things for me,” she insisted as we moved out onto the street, the noise of the pizza joint immediately falling away.

“Sure I can,” I countered. “It’s not far, if you just want to walk,” I told her, gesturing down the street.

“I love a walk,” she said. “Let me carry the bask—“

“Absolutely not.”

She ducked her head at that, but not before I saw the smile on her face.

“I’ve been hoping to run into you,” she said after we crossed the road.

“Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah. I mean, I need to thank you.”

“No, you don’t.”

“Yes, I absolutely do,” she insisted. “You sent me a couch.”

“A housewarming gift,” I said, shrugging it off.

“You already got me the bunny lamp as a housewarming gift,” she reminded me.

“An early Easter present then.”

“I’m pretty sure the traditional Easter presents are, like, candy bunnies or marshmallow treats.”

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