by, but I figured you get a lunch break. Or is it dinner? Whatever, I figured you should be able to eat.”
“I’ll get cleaned up a bit, and thank you for doing this.” He nodded to the food.
“Not too pushy?” She quickly glanced up at him from under her lashes before immediately fussing with the things she’d brought.
He slid his hand up her arm and she jumped, turning toward him. “Thank you, this is nice.” He watched a blush form and the lopsided smile hit him like a lightning bolt. He dropped his hand. “I’ll get cleaned up.”
She called after him, “Don’t think too much about it.”
“I won’t.” The comment was out before he could stop it, but thinking about her was a habit he’d recently fallen into. He found himself thinking about her when he was supposed to be doing paperwork, or driving, or sleeping… It seemed, for reasons beyond his understanding, the fierce little reporter had commandeered the majority share of his attention span the last forty-eight hours.
“I was going to bring a bottle of wine, but I figured wine and construction work probably didn’t mix. So, we have soda or water.” She looked up at him as he sat down at his desk where she’d spread out the food.
“I can guarantee wine and construction work does not mix. So, what brought you out here tonight, Bekki?” He reached for his salad and opened the container. Becky snagged the cucumbers off the top and put them in her salad. He lifted an eyebrow. “How did you know I don’t like cucumbers?”
“When we had lasagna at my house the first night. You pushed the cucumbers to the side and ate everything but them. I’m a reporter, I notice things. Sue me.” She gave a small shrug, which bounced her dark brown hair on her shoulder. “I came because…” She sighed and shrugged again. “I’m trying not to think about it, or you, rather. But I find that I am.” She opened his soup container and passed it to him.
“Can I tell you a secret?” He placed his hand over her smaller one, trapping it against the Styrofoam.
She swallowed hard and looked up at him. “Sure.”
“Off the record, Ms. King, I find that I’m thinking about you, too.” He smiled at her. The tiny gasp he heard was echoed in his soul. The woman, battered and bruised, without a bit of makeup on, was excruciatingly beautiful.
“We have nothing in common.” She slipped her hand out from under his.
“Wrong. We have each other in common.”
“Caitlyn and I thought you didn’t like our type.” She opened her container and poured her soup into the warm bread bowl.
He followed suit and recapped his larger container after filling the bowl. “Honestly, I prejudged you and Caitlyn. My brothers have had experiences with women who are… well, conniving, gold-digging, princesses for a lack of better words.” She lifted her fingernails and looked at him. He nodded and admitted, “Yes, I made that judgement based on your nails, the clothes, makeup, high heels, and slightly entitled attitude.”
Bekki leaned forward. “So, what changed your mind?”
He sighed and stirred his soup as he thought. “Honestly, a myriad of little things.”
“Like?” Damn, she wasn’t going to let him off the hook, was she?
“All right. One, you like my dog and tongue baths don’t seem to bother you.”
She snorted rather inelegantly. “Well, yeah, your dog is great, and he likes me.”
“Fair enough. Two, you are tenacious, and you follow your heart.”
She cocked her head. “How did you come to that conclusion?”
He put his spoon down. “Look at what you went through for the homeless population in this community. Most people would have shrugged them off. Shrugged off the people who were trying to provide aid. That takes tenacity, willpower, and heart. You care even though you don’t want anyone to notice that point.”
“It isn’t a selling point where I work, true.” She agreed. "What else?”
“Does there need to be more?”
“Ah… yeah?” She made bug eyes at him.
“A lot of different things. Your sense of humor, the way you are emotionally invested in everything you do. You don’t just go through the motions, do you?”
“Nah, life is meant to be experienced. What fun is floating around like a bobber when you can be deep-sea diving?” She blew on her spoon.
“And let’s not forget how you admitted you were wrong and that you needed help. That really had to hurt, but you did it anyway.”
She lifted a finger. “Point of clarification, I