Page 30 of Business Casual

“Fine.” I lowered my voice. “Tre, do you think it’s a good idea for us to get lunch together?”

“Yes. We’ll shake hands, drive separately, and then I’ll come back to work.” He extended his arm in my direction. “We’ll be colleagues having lunch.”

I rolled my eyes and then shook his hand. “I’m too hungry to argue with you. Al’s Diner downtown has amazing burgers and it’s only fifteen minutes away.”

The handshake lasted for a little too long and there was a definite spark. I pulled my hand out of his. “So, uh… you know the way?”

“I do.” He licked his lips. “I eat there a lot.”

I zeroed in on his mouth. The flashback of him eating me came swiftly and I felt it all throughout my body. Swallowing hard, I nodded. “Okay, I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

“Yes, you will.”

Turning on my heels, I made my way to my godfather’s car. I could feel his eyes on me, but I shook it off. I don’t think I breathed until I got inside the car.

“Shit,” I cursed in exasperation.

I immediately dug out my phone and called Keisha. When she didn’t pick up, I started the engine and talked to myself the entire way downtown.

“Jimmy is going to kill me,” I mumbled as I paralleled parked a block away from Al’s Diner.

Saying a quick prayer that no one scratched or hit the car, I climbed out and headed in the direction of the restaurant.

“How did you get that spot?” I asked, pointing at Tre’s car as I approached.

He opened his arms wide. “I got lucky.”

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling so hard and I made the conscious choice to not make an inappropriate comment. “I see.”

Tre escorted me into the restaurant, and we were promptly seated in a booth. Neither of us even bothered with the menu because we both ordered the burger and fries combo. After coming back from washing our hands, we sat across from one another sipping our milkshakes.

“You messed up not getting the strawberry,” he told me as he took another sip.

“The strawberry does look good. But the vanilla is going to go better with the food,” I countered, lifting my glass.

“Do you want to taste it?”

I cocked my head to the side. “Tre…”

“I don’t want any vanilla but if you want a taste of mine, you can have a taste. That’s all I’m saying.” He smirked.

“Okay,” I said, starting to take my straw out of my shake. “Yeah, I’ll taste it.”

“Just use my straw.” He slid his glass across the table. “You can’t cross-contaminate the strawberry and vanilla.”

I let out a short laugh. “I didn’t want to just use your straw without permission.”

“We’ve shared bodily fluids. We can share a straw.”

I choked on the sip of strawberry shake I was just about to swallow. “What is wrong with you?”

“Am I lying?”

“No, but I was not expecting you to say that.” I pushed his shake back to his side of the table.

“Just trying to put a smile on your face.” He lifted his eyebrows and gave me a gravely serious look. “You keep resisting it and I want to see it again.”

“Here’s your food,” the waitress announced in an upbeat tone as she placed our plates in front of us. “If you need anything else, just holler!” She gave us extra napkins. “I’ll be back in a couple minutes to check on you.”

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