Page 9 of D.I.E.T. (Did I Eat That?)

“So you’re picturing me being fun? I like this turn in the conversation.” Sinjin smiled this dirty, sexy, flirty little smile, lifting his Coke to me before taking a sip as well.

“Whoa, slow your roll there, fella. I don’t give my attention to guys who get hot from CNBC and orgasm when the DOW closes high.”

What started as a small chuckle for Sinjin blossomed into a hardcore belly laugh.

I couldn’t have been happier to see the waitress walking our way carrying a tray. I could’ve kissed her when she set down my rice, platter of chicken, and vegetables. She left and came back two minutes later with Sinjin’s huge spread, setting the dishes down in front of him. I eyed the truly amazing feast like a woman who’d been on a months-long hunger strike. He picked up his chopsticks, using them to pluck one of the dumplings off the plate. He popped it in his mouth and chewed, swallowed, and then looked at me.

“You know, finance—it’s not as dull as you think. There’s a lot to it, especially within my area.”

“So… Are you like a stock trader?”

“Not exactly,” he said. “I’m the CFO for Futures Technologies.”

“Are you kidding me? Futures Technologies? As in Brandon Lowenstein’s Futures Technologies?”

“The very same,” he said, popping a big bite of sliced beef smothered in sauce into his mouth.

I squinted my eyes, full of incredulous skepticism. “Aren’t you a little young to be a CFO?”

“I’m thirty-one. Maybe I’m a little bit young.” He shrugged. “But I’m good at what I do. Brandon and I met in college. I’ve been the money guy for Futures from the beginning.”

“What a small freaking world.”

He cocked his head swallowing his food. “Why is that?”

“Because my best friend, the one whose wedding is in Antarctica—”

“Chile,” he said, cutting in.

I waved my hand in the air in that sort ofwhatevermotion. “Fine, Chile, semantics. My best friend who’s getting married at the southern tip of the world works for Meredith Lowenstein.”

His mouth dropped open. “How the heck does that happen? Meredith doesn’t work.”

“Lennon McCartney is the Lowenstein’s personal adventure guide. He’s Kami’s fiancé. Kami goes along to make sure that Meredith always has great hair. Though, she does the guide thing now, too.”

“Wow, you’re right. It is a pretty small freaking world.”

“Do you ever see Brandon Lowenstein?” I asked.

“Twice a month. Videoconferencing,” he replied. “If you know who Brandon is, then you know he’s always gone jet-setting somewhere. He gets to reap the benefits of my hard work.”

“It must be nice,” I replied.

“Right,” he said. “Enough of that. What do you do for fun?” He asked while shoving another delectable-looking bite of General Tso’s beef into his mouth.

Eat the steamed rice… Eat the steamed rice. I looked between his plate and my plate and internally cried. No—I was stronger than him. I was going to beat this guy at bootcamp. With my resolve in place, I picked up a forkful of my steamed rice, shoved it in my mouth, chewed it, swallowed it, plastered a smile on my face, and answered, “Well, that depends. I don’t do a whole lot of outdoorsy stuff. As a matter of fact, I think people who enjoy the winter weather”—I lowered my voice to a whisper— “are certifiably crazy.” He threw his head back to laugh. I smiled even broader.

Then he pointed at me with his chopstick. “You’ve got a little food in your teeth.”

Oh, crap. Quickly, I covered my mouth with one hand while I picked at my teeth with the fingernail of my other. Then I licked my tongue over my teeth to make sure that I didn’t miss anything. Confident I’d gotten it all, I glared at him.

“What? You’d rather have me let you go around with food stuck in your teeth?” he asked.

Uh, “No, I wouldn’t.” But that wasn’t the point. I pushed my plate away, suddenly having lost my appetite.

“Outdoor winter—crazy people. Got it,” he said as he watched me push my plate away, conveniently changing the subject.

“And yes,” I said, “I think Kami and Len are the craziest.”

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