Page 13 of Burn For Me

“Um, yeah.” He turned to Whiskey, “I’ll talk to you later.”

“Of course,” she said with a bright smile as he turned and began to leave.

“Smoke, I’ll see you later.”

I didn’t reply, but I didn’t need to. Whiskey turned her wide eyes toward me, speaking in a low voice. “I wasn’t trying to avoid you. I know you probably think that.”

I stepped closer to her. “If I had taken you on a tour, you would have been alright with that?”

“Yes. I work for you. I would have enjoyed you taking me to see the plant.”

I studied her bright eyes, wanting to fall into them as I had my drink at home the other night. “Alright, then grab your purse. Let’s go.”

“Um, go where?”

“Lunch. I’m taking you to lunch.” I started to walk toward the front exit.

“Smoke, that’s not work.”

I stopped and turned back. “But it is. I plan to tell you about our company and how it started. It’s what I do on tours, and it is one hundred percent work, only we will be eating food instead of walking around the plant.”

She shook her head, gathered her purse, and began approaching me. “As long as we talk about work.”

“This is a work lunch, nothing more.”

“Fine.”

I walked her out to my car and automatically went to the passenger door and opened it for her. She stood beside me, frowning. “That’s not what a co-worker does.”

“It is precisely what a co-worker should do. My mother would be horrified if I didn’t open a car door for a lady. It has nothing to do with being a co-worker or not.”

She slipped into the passenger seat, and I went to the driver’s seat with a smile on my face. Behind the wheel, I glanced at her. She was watching me, and the two of us froze. The immediate instinct to reach over the console and pull her to me was so strong that I had to force myself to look away and start the car.

“What are you in the mood for?” As soon as I asked, I started wondering who had the best salads in the area, as I assumed that was what would come out of her mouth.

“Um, a burger and fries would be fine.”

I turned to her as I paused at the exit to the parking lot. “Seriously? You want a burger and fries?”

“Yes, why? Is that a problem?”

I laughed. “No problem at all, Whiskey. I just expected you to say a salad or something.”

“That’s pretty sexist, Smoke.”

“You’re right; I’m sorry. That was dumb of me. Listen, to change the subject, our office has a lot of perks! We even have a gym. Do you work out?” I asked as I glanced toward her.

She pursed her lips, staring out the front window. “I don’t think that has anything to do with work, Zack.”

“Whiskey, relax. Okay? It’s just us making friendly conversation on our way to lunch.”

“You said that we would talk about work, not ourselves.”

“Well, I can’t very well talk about the company and not talk about myself since I am the owner, and it’s named after me.”

“You know what I’m talking about, Smoke.”

“I do.” I grinned at her as I stopped at a traffic light. “Look, I want to get to know you better, Lilly. There is nothing wrong with being friendly with an employee.”

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