I smile and hold the phone tighter. “I miss you, too, and I love you a big bunch. Good night, now.”
“Night.”
I wait for him to end the call and smile at Lukas as I put my phone back into my purse.
“He’s having a hard time understanding why things are so different,” I explain.
He nods, a warm smile on his face, reaching his eyes. “It’s totally understandable. You’re a good mom. Your face lit up when you talked to him. You’re the kind of mom I wanted when I was his age.”
I wait until the waitress bringing our food has gone before I reply. “My kids are my life.” I take a sip of my latte. “Wow, you were right. This is delicious!” Vanilla and brown sugar latte is sinful.
He grins. “It’s my fave, and I actually start to jones if I don’t have at least one a day.”
I take my knife and fork and cut my sandwich into small one-inch pieces, while Lukas watches me in confused fascination.
“Are you cutting up your sandwich to eat it with a fork?” he finally asks.
“Yes,” I reply, taking a bite off my fork.
He laughs as he watches me. “That’s . . . different. Can I ask why?”
“Are you laughing at me?” I tease. “If you must know, ever since I was really young, I’ve just had this aversion to sticking food into my face, or biting into things. So I eat everything with a fork.”
“Really? What about, like, ice cream cones, or bananas? Or an apple?”
I shake my head. “Nope. None of that. I put it in a dish and cut it up and eat it with a fork or spoon.”
A naughty, crooked grin spreads across his face. “Okay, I’m going to try really hard to refrain from making a sexual comment about all of that.”
I feign shock. “Lukas! You shouldn’t be thinking about my mouth and sexual things.”
He groans and bows his head, his long hair falling into his face. “I’m definitely thinking about it now.”
I know I’m blushing five shades of red, but flirting with him feels good and safe because he’s not a jerk. I sorta like his naughty playful side, and how he’s bringing it out of me, too.
“Let’s change the subject from what I do with my mouth,” I suggest. “So how about you? Any kids?”
“Nope. I love kids, though. And I’m still kinda thinking about your mouth.”