Page 52 of Worth Loving
She grabbed her purse, put it over her shoulder and followed him out. “You just don’t get answers overnight. We have to have them stored and labeled and tested to see when they might go bad, when they don’t bake as well. Anyway, when I was testingone of them, I put my own spin on the ingredients. They ask us to do that too. Do you want to know what I added to it?”
“Yes,” he said.
“I’m geeking out over this, and I’ll stop. They tell me at work I’m always so excited over the weirdest things.”
“You be you,” he said.
“I hope you like spice. I put ginger, cinnamon, a little bit of cayenne pepper.”
“Those sound great. I can’t wait to have one.”
“We can leave them here so they don’t melt in the car. Or the frosting doesn’t. Just remind me when you bring me back to grab them.”
And it would have him coming back to her place too. No sex today. That isn’t happening. But she wanted a kiss for sure.
“It still sounds good. It seems like you enjoy your job.”
“Of course,” she said. “So many people don’t. What a waste of our lives if we are stuck doing what we hate.”
“You’re right. You’re absolutely right.”
18
DULL THEIR PAIN
They pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant twenty minutes later.
A little outside of Albany. Not that he thought she’d care, but he didn’t always like to eat that close to Pulse where he was known.
“Have you been here before?” he asked.
“Nope. I don’t get out much. I probably come off boring that way.”
“I know many people who don’t go out to eat often.”
“Do you take Jonah out much? My parents didn’t take us as kids and I think that was part of it. Like when we went it was special occasions. Otherwise we had takeout.”
She didn’t talk about her family much and though he wanted to know more, he wasn’t sure what to ask.
The more he brought up with her or about her, the more she’d want to know his situation.
But he knew the time was going to come where she’d ask about Jonah’s mother. That was only natural.
And he knew she had a half-sister she met later in life, and an older brother she wasn’t close to, and a sister she was.
Guess he knew more about her than he’d thought.
“Jonah has been out a few times but more chain type places. He eats at Pulse more than anything. I guess it was a good trial for him. During the day, there are families in there in the back, so it’s easier.”
“I bet he loves it.”
“He does,” he said. They walked a few feet, he grabbed the door and held it for her, got to the hostess stand. “Easton.”
It wasn’t that busy and he probably didn’t need a reservation but didn’t want to wait either and take that chance.
“I love Italian food. I saw they make all their own pasta too.”
“Yep. Marcus does that at Pulse. You’d be surprised how much people appreciate that.”
