Then she informed him, “I hate beer.”
That was when Mag busted out laughing.
When he was done, she was still smiling, and Christ.
Christ.
She was pretty.
Suddenly, he heard her mother’s voice, the words she said coming at Evie through her phone, and he felt a burn hit his gut.
“And since I didn’t totally officially get to make you breakfast, I’ll whip up something for dinner,” she said.
“I thought we’d Postmate it. Maybe Chinese.”
Her face screwed up. “You keep trying to intervene, which is giving me the sense you don’t trust my cooking.”
“I don’t know. Are you gonna force me to eat kale and quinoa?”
“Since I only have what’s in your house to work with, and that’s not in your house, no. And since I hate kale, no times two. But fair warning, I dig quinoa.”
Fair warning.
Giving the impression she’d be cooking for him again.
That was not skittish Evie.
That was an Evie he could get onboard with.
He gave her a squeeze before he let her go, saying, “Have at it.”
She started moving around his kitchen as he turned his back to the counter of the island, put the heels of his palms to it, and hefted his ass up on it to watch her.
“Do you have a taste for anything?” she asked.
“Rib eye and loaded baked potato.”
Slowly, she turned to him.
“Though I don’t have either of those on hand for you to cook,” he told her.
She did another eye roll with a headshake, but one side of her lips quirked up.
She rummaged in his fridge and came out of it with her arms full of cheese and meat.
“Bacon cheeseburgers?” she asked.
I’m gonna marry this girl, he thought.
He felt that unexpected, never-had-before thought in his gut too.
It was warm, not hot, like a slug of Fireball.
His favorite shot.
“Danny?” she called.
His voice was gruff when he said, “Sounds awesome.”
At his tone, her head did a little tick, meaning her hair did a little swish and…
Yeah.
The thought did not suck that he’d sit his ass on his counter and watch this girl make their dinner night after night for years.
“So, that kiss this morning,” he said and the packet of bacon, sleeve of American cheese slices and carton of ground beef hit the deck. He grinned slow at her and murmured, “Baby.”
This he did before he hopped off the counter to help her pick it up.
“I got it,” she said.
So they wouldn’t collide like she for sure would make them collide, he caught her hand and held it. “I’m going in. You stand still.”
Pink hit her cheeks and he wanted to enjoy that, but for her sake, instead, he crouched and got their dinner from the floor.
He put it on the counter by the stove then hefted his ass onto it, so he’d be close while she worked.
She proved she was at one with this idea when she found a bowl and set it down beside his hip.
“It was a great kiss, Evie,” he said to her bent head as she dumped hamburger in the bowl.
“I’m surprised you don’t have a fat lip,” she said to the bowl.
“I didn’t mean that one, but that one too.”
Her head came up and her eyes caught his. “It wasn’t.”
“It was.”
“I’m a klutz. It’s embarrassing.”
“It’s you. It’s cute.”
She looked down to the bowl and reached for his salt and pepper.
“Evie, I’m bein’ serious.”
“You’re being nice. That’s you. You’re…nice.”
He wasn’t sure any woman he’d ever known described him as nice.
But he couldn’t say it sucked.
“Evie—”
Her head came up and she blurted, “I’m attracted to you. You…you’re attractive. Now, do you have Worcestershire sauce?”
“No.”
“Garlic powder?”
“Maybe. Evie—”
“I’m a mess,” she whispered.
“So am I,” he whispered back. “Everyone’s a mess. Anyone who looks like they’ve got it together, they’re either putting on a show or you’re not looking close enough.”
“How are you a mess? You’re…you’re…” She threw a hand up to him and then out to his pad. “Totally together.”
Fuck.
They were in fiftieth or sixtieth date territory.
“I seem like I got it goin’ on because your life imploded. Trust me, I got my issues and I got my demons.”
She fell silent and studied him.
Then she spoke.
“Should we just have dinner and watch a movie?”
He’d give her that play, and it wasn’t purely altruistic reasons why he would.
She didn’t need to know his issues and definitely not his demons.
Not now.
He’d already let slip a nuance of what he’d seen during his tours.
That was enough.
“Honey, I’ll do whatever you wanna do to chill out,” he told her. “But first, I want it out there and I want it clear, I liked that kiss. Those kisses. Both of them, no matter what you think. I want more. I want to get to know you better. And I wanna look out for you while you’re going through this rough patch. We can talk about all that when you’re ready. For now, I gotta understand what your day looks like tomorrow so I can have you covered.”