Page 105 of Business Casual

He smiled. “It’s my mom’s secret ingredient.”

“I suppose that means you can’t tell me.”

“Unless you want me to come up missing, that’s exactly what that means.”

“Your mom is pretty amazing,” I pointed out after another big bite of food. “I love her.”

“She said the same thing about you.” He looked like there was more he wanted to say, but instead, he shoveled eggs into his mouth like he was avoiding something.

I cocked my head to the side. “What?”

He shook his head. “It’s nothing.”

“If it was nothing, you wouldn’t have made that face,” I argued. “Tell me!”

“My mom just said that she had a feeling about you.”

I rotated my neck back and forth waiting for more context. “What does that mean? A feeling like what?”

He lifted his glass to his lips, blocking part of his face. “A feeling like you were going to be part of the family.”

“What?” The word came out more like a puff of air. Since he was drinking, I couldn’t read his expression. “A part of the family like—?”

“Daniel,” he interjected. “She circled back around and asked me why I didn’t think you and Daniel would be a good match.”

I searched his face. “What did you say?”

“I told her I didn’t want to talk about it.” He cleared his throat. “Did you get a lot out of networking?” he asked.

I paused. I had whiplash from the quick way he changed the subject. “Um, yeah. I did. I got a lot of leads and made some great connections.”

“Did you meet with Steven Jimenez with ABC Tech?”

I shook my head slowly. “I don’t think so.”

“He was talking about a project he was thinking about doing with his nonprofit and I talked you up. I was hoping you two would be able to connect. When I got back to the table, I found out you were gone already. But I was hoping maybe he caught you before you left.”

“No, I didn’t see him.” My lips pulled up into a smile. “You were talking me up?”

His forehead creased. “Yeah. He needed someone good and you’re good.”

With my cheeks suddenly enflamed, I bit my bottom lip. “Thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me for that. That’s all you.”

There was nothing better than having someone see you, respect you, and support you. That right there was indicative to what being around him was like. He lit me up.

“Did you have a good time last night? Did you network?” I wondered.

“The networking went well, but I wouldn’t call it a good time. It was work. Any type of function like that is never really fun for me. I don’t get a chance to just chill. I’m my father’s son. I represent the company. I’m the professional version of myself. I don’t just get to be me.”

“It felt like you were you when it was just us.”

“I was.”

All the air left my lungs.

“I like it when it’s just us,” I admitted, my voice small.

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