Page 13 of Fit for Love

Well then… “If I get a crêpe, it will be with triple cheese, double every meat, and zero veggies.”

I say it just to needle him.I actually like vegetables and eat pretty healthy myself.

He shrugs.“What you order is your prerogative.You’re not my client, and you didn’t ask me to help you eat better.”

The waiter comes back with our teas.“Do you know what you want to order?”

Ash gets the ratatouille, and despite what I said a second ago, when I order my crêpe, I ask for just one layer of cheese, a single meat, andfines herbes.

“Aren’t herbs vegetables?”Ash asks as soon as we’re alone again.“If so, you have more than zero veggies in your dish.”

“No,” I say firmly.“You only use a little bit of an herb, but a lot when it’s a vegetable.”

He smirks.“So… if someone eats only a little bit of say, spinach, for them, it becomes an herb?”

Damn him.Now I want spinach in my crêpe.

“Excuse me,” I say before chasing after the waiter to adjust my order.

When I come back, Ash looks like the cat who ate the canary—which tells me he definitely overheard me with the waiter.

“I have a craving for spinach,” I mumble.

His smirk widens.“I take full credit for that.It’s only been a short time, but I’m already a good influence on you.Spinach has a ton of vitamin K, which, among other things, helps with coagulation.”

“Coagulation, as in ability to heal wounds?Are you planning to cut me or something?”

He chokes on his mint tea.“That got dark quickly.”

I blow on my chamomile.“It’s a risk you take when you squabble about definitions.”

“You asked if herbs were vegetables, not me.”He sets his cup down.“I have a better dilemma for you.Isn’t the crêpe you ordered basically a quesadilla?”

Huh.“No, a quesadilla is closer to a grilled cheese.Next thing you’ll be asking is whether tacos are sandwiches.”

He gasps.“Tacos are not sandwiches… but hot dogs are tacos, for sure.”

I snort.“And Pop-Tarts are a type of calzone.”

He rewards me with that devastating smile of his.“Coffee is bean soup if you think about it.Cereal is also soup, or maybe even a smoothie?”

My stomach rumbles again.“Crêpes are thin pancakes.”

“Pizza is an unfolded taco.”

Before I can come up with more, the waiter comes back with the ratatouille.

“Want to try it?”Ash asks.

If I succumb to temptation, this will feel even more like a date.Then again, I’m starving, so I can’t help snatching a bite.Nor can I help the moan that escapes my lips as the delicious flavors explode on my tongue.

When I open my eyes—which I didn’t realize were closed—Ash is looking at me with a peculiarly intense expression.

I clear my throat.“Is ratatouille a stew or a casserole?And if it is a stew, is it essentially a thick soup and therefore a type of smoothie?”

Before Ash can answer, my crêpes arrive.

When we’re alone again, I taste the crêpes, and another moan escapes my lips.

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