She nods, and I lead her over to the kitchen table. We start to unpack the bags, and I look up to see her glancing back to the windows. The moon is shining through the windows, casting shadows across our faces. I light a candle, and she looks back, smiling softly.
“Are you trying to romance me?” She asks.
“Always,” I tell her honestly.
We sit down and both dig in, but after a few minutes, I notice that she’s shifting in her seat and just pushing her food around her plate.
“You don’t like it?” I ask her.
“It’s good. I’m just not that hungry right now.”
“I’ll put it away for later then.”
She helps me put the food in the fridge and starts looking around the place.
“No maid or personal chef?” She asks me, and I shake my head.
“I like my space and being independent.”
“You have a driver,” she points out, and I nod.
“I met Patrick a few years ago when we were doing some pro bono work for a wounded veteran’s charity. He had just gotten back from his last deployment, and we clicked.”
“So you offered him a job?”
“Yeah. I hate driving in this traffic. It stresses me out.”
“Same,” she sighs, and I smile.
“Well, you’re always welcome to ride with me.”
“I’m way out of your way,” she protests, and I shrug.
“I don’t mind.”
“You drove me home yourself the other night,” she remembers, and I nod.
“Yeah, Patrick was going to catch up with some of his military buddies that day.”
“Oh, at Coronado?” She guesses, and I shake my head.
“No, they just came here.”
“Here?”
“Well, to Patrick’s apartment. I bought him one in this building when he started working for me.”
“That was generous of you.”
“Just convenient.”
She shakes her head, and I take her hand.
“Let me give you the tour.”
I point down the hall from the kitchen.
“My office is down there. Oh, and there’s a small security room next to the bathroom.”