Page 22 of Resist
“What? No! Lucas, I’m your boss. It’s inapprop—”
“To discuss changes to my solo performance,” he added, his voice calm with a hint of amusement.
“Oh.” I laughed, uneasily. “In that case, yes.”
“Perfect.” He stood up, grabbed his towel, and swung it over his shoulders. “Meet in the restaurant at seven?”
I shielded the sun from my eyes and looked up at his glittering silhouette. “Seven it is.”
My watch read ten minutespast seven when Lucas pulled his chair out from the table I’d reserved in the hotel restaurant.
“I’m sorry I’m late, Hel—”
“Are youeveron time?” I interrupted, a chill to my voice.
He sat down with a thud. “No, not usually. But I do try to be.”
“Perhaps you’re not trying hard enough.” I lifted my bottle of red in his direction and asked if he’d like any. “Wine?”
He raised his hand and shook his head. “No thanks. I’ll grab a beer.” Lucas waved to a waitress who, no doubt, had already been looking his way. He was certainly hard to miss in his faded jeans and snug-fitting, baby blue polo top — collar standing to attention.
“Are you ready to order?” the waitress asked as she stepped up to the table, her cheeks flushed, her smile grand.
Lucas leaned back and placed his hands behind his head, his biceps bulging. “Can I get a XXXX, please?”
“Sh … sure,” the waitress stuttered, scribbling down the order on her notepad before looking up in my direction. “Anything else for you, ma’am?”
I almost choked.Ma’am?I may have been in my forties and certainly not opposed to good manners, but ma’am … here, now, and in front of Lucas? She could stick her damn ma’am up her adolescent arse.
“No, child. I’m perfectly fine.”
Lucas stifled his laugh with his hand then cleared his throat, rocking forward on his seat to pick up his menu. “So do you know what you want to order yet?”
“I do. I had a quick look at the menu while you kept me waiting.”
His eyebrows rose and shame pooled in his eyes. It made me feel bad, so I decided I would cut the big bad boss persona for tonight. It was my go-to when I felt unsure or intimidated, and for some reason I couldn’t explain, I felt very unsure around him.
“I’m gonna start with the oysters and then have the linguini marinara,” I added, softening my voice.
His eyebrows rose higher, his eyes gleaming as if he’d just won the lottery. “A fellow mollusc lover, I see!”
“A fellow what?”
His smile faltered. “Mollusc lover.”
I shrugged, having not the faintest idea what he was talking about.
Lucas pointed to my selection on the menu. “You ordered squid, octopus, clams, and mussels. They’re all molluscs.”
“They are?”
“Yes.
“Oh, then, yes, I am a fellow mollusc lover.”
His smile returned. “We are the very best kind of lovers.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. His excitement over my choice of dish was weird yet cute. “So I take it you’re having the linguini, too?”
