Page 39 of Twist of Date

He winks at me. “Sure. My bad.” And he slides into the seat to my right, his foot brushing against mine. So much for the needed distance.

“Well, this all looks amazing, Cole.” I refuse to look at him. And I reach out to start putting together some burgers. He follows suit, not saying anything right away.

“Lays. I don’t want you working on my matchmaking anymore because I want the opportunity to be your friend again.” He reaches out and places his hand on the crook of my elbow to get my full attention.

“We are friends, Cole,” I say, a little overwhelmed by his admission.

“No, not really anymore. You’ve been very clear you don’t mix business and pleasure. I want to respect that.”

“I appreciate that. But you’re still a client of HEA,” I tell him.

“Right, well, you’re putting me in a hard spot here, Lays. ’Cause if I stop being a client, I’ve got to answer to both your grandmother and mine. I want to reconnect with you. But I also promised Ruth and Dorthy that I would give this matchmaking a try. Help a guy out here. How do I accomplish both?” He’s all serious brows and grim smile. Immediately, I hate the sadness that covers his face. I’ve only ever seen this man happy, so this is new.

I sigh and sit back in my chair. “I want to reconnect too. But it’s hard to funnel HEA out of whatever this is.” I wave my hand between us.

“What this is, right now, is two old friends getting to know each other,” he says, squeezing my arm.

“That’s all?” I ask, leaning forward, resting my chin on my knuckles. His eyes drop to my lips, then he looks me in the eyes as a lazy smirk finds space on his handsome face.

“Unless you want to add kissing into the mix, see what else we can set on fire.”

I blink. So he did like the kiss.

I clear my throat. “Food is getting cold.” And I force myself to focus on the sliders. Cole chuckles and does the same. We spend the rest of our time enjoying burgers and talking. He tells me about how he made it to Indy and started LACE with his best friend, Travis. We also talk about our hobbies, how he’s still into Dungeon and Dragons but also recently took some blacksmith classes. I tell him about how I like to read and I have a Nintendo Switch and like to play Mario Kart on the regular. He laughs at this because I’m not really a gamer. I just love Mario and his racing game.

We craft all the burgers on the menu, two of each one, and each eat them at the same time. I start rating them and he plays along, giving them all the highest rating because of course he would love them all equally. I make it a point to try them all, if only to prove that I am not scared. I’m not surprised that I actually like every one of them.

“Great. Now I’m going to have trouble deciding which burger to get next time.” I pout. Real-world problem, yeah?

Cole chuckles. “Get the slider meal then you can have multiple at once.”

“I’ve never seen that option on the menu,” I tell him, dragging a fresh-cut French fry through their house FIRE sauce. I’ve only been to FIRE a few times, but I would have remembered that option for sure.

“Because it’s not. I’m having it added just for you.”

My hand stops midway to my mouth, fry hanging there in the air, and look at him.

“What?” I ask, forcing myself to continue to eat.

He leans back in the chair, relaxed and all sexy-like. “We have sliders as a kiddie meal. But I’m going to guess you’re not the only person who eats at FIRE who is scared to take a risk on something new or has a hard time making decisions.”

I narrow my eyes at him. “I take risks. And my decision-making skill is just fine. Thank you.”

He smirks and winks. I don’t think he’s talking about the burgers anymore. But I can’t blame him. I haven’t been willing to risk getting to know him again while he’s a client. But once I make up my mind, I stick to my decision. But he has a point.

On a sigh, I give in. “But I appreciate the new option. I’ve never had someone add a menu item just for me.” I avoid his gaze, looking down at what’s left of the food.

“Well, then just count it as the benefit to being my friend,” he says matter-of-factly.

Picking up a couple of fries, I toss them on my plate. “I would say there are a lot of benefits to being your friend.” I feel my cheeks heat. What am I doing?

I’m flirting with him.

He leans forward, his voice low and smooth. “Yeah? Like what?”

I pick at some random crumbs on the table. “You’re funny, so being around you is never dull.”

“What else?”

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