a matter of how fast I can feed dollars into it and start slot clearing.”
“Vending machines?” She did a double take on his face. He was serious.
“Yeah, I know.” He sniggered. “Weird, right? The thing is, I can’t help myself. I get giddy and lose my shit in record time. My hotel has machines,” he explained in a mumble. “Somebody already cleared the candy, so I went with the munchies.”
What was it with guys and machines? “My brother acquired a Ms. Pac-Man arcade machine. I thought he was insane because the thing isn’t small. He says it’s not the game so much as it’s the machine that floats his boat. Is it like that?”
“I’m sure a therapist would have a field day with this subject, but for real, I have no explanation. There’s a fully equipped employee kitchen where I work, but that hasn’t stopped me from trying to turn the place into an automated cafeteria.”
“Oh, look.” She pointed at the car’s large navigation screen. “We’re almost there.”
To find parking, they had to do a complete circle of the block where the truck was, but like magic, a spot opened up less than half a block away.
“Does this thing self-park?” she asked.
“Smuggy Von Smugger does indeed self-park,” he drawled in a pleasing and playful tone. “However, there’s that damn emasculating thing again.”
She giggled. Emasculation must be a thing with him.
“How can I demonstrate my car competence in a manly way when a computer is doing the hard work?”
“Good point. Judging equipment and spatial requirements. Very manly.”
She didn’t hear the words coming out of her mouth until they were hanging in the air. A second later, Arnie barked with laughter.
“Yes, yes!” He snorted. “Very important, understanding my, uh, equipment.” He snickered. “Girth and length versus available space.”
With no effort, he performed a nearly perfect parallel park and cut the engine. “How’d I do?”
Cheeky smirk and cocky tone aside, he was the cutest thing ever. His whole vibe gave her such joy. Warmth flowed through her, and she smiled at him.
“Smooth,” she teasingly sneered. “Lots of practice?”
“Not as much as you’re imagining but more than I should admit to.”
Whoa. Their joking around led to an interesting reveal. She might be blond, but she wasn’t dumb. Men who looked like Arnie, grown-ass men a decade or more older than she, weren’t virgins. He probably had one hell of a body count.
“What about you?” He asked the question in a husky, quiet voice.
“Me?” She pointed at herself and reacted with silent shock.
“Is there a boyfriend I need to eliminate?”
Eliminate? What a strange way to react.
She shook her head and lifted one shoulder. “No boyfriend, no friends with benefits,” she murmured while air-quoting the popular expression.
He appeared surprised, and without unloading her life story, she offered the abridged version.
“I just figure that until I know what I want, what I’m doing with my life, it’s better to give a wide berth to commitment and relationships. How you feel at eighteen isn’t how you feel at twenty-one, and twenty-five isn’t much different. I’m still figuring out who I am.”
“What about love?”
“What about it?” She sniffed. Her eyes darted to his and then assessed his expression. “Have you ever been in love?”
Summer could see the effect of her response in how quickly he tightened up. Clearly, they each had baggage in this area.
Their conversation effectively stalled when they clammed up and sat in what for her was stubborn silence.
She had a complicated relationship with the concept of love. Love was what ate away at her dad’s soul until the day he died. Love for a woman who walked out on him and her kids. A woman who still to this day wouldn’t know how to express a love emotion if her damn life depended on it.
This time when her stomach growled loudly, she was grateful for the diversion. They quickly exited the car, and when he held his hand out for her to either accept or reject, she slid her fingers into his and took a deep breath.
Juggling a huge order of food between them, they made it to the corner and across the street to a small park with benches and picnic tables. Arnie could see why the Coastal Cravers truck was so popular. The aromas wafting from the kitchen were amazing, and the husband and wife chef duo had a strong schmooze game. No doubt about it, he was impressed.
Note to self: A food truck would work as an excellent mobile undercover surveillance option. He