waiter left the table, Finn snagged one of her fries. When he reached for another one, Keira fisted her fork and made a move to stab his hand. “Hey!” he protested. His grin told her he knew she hadn’t seriously been ready to hurt him. “Look, you’re the one who invited me to lunch, remember? You’re not going to make me wait until my order comes out, are you? I’m starving.”
She pondered a moment to tease him. “Fine,” she finally said. “But when you get your food, you have to share with me.” She cut her burger in half.
He grabbed the portion closest to him and took a big bite, giving an appreciative groan that made Keira grin, though she almost mimicked him after tasting her hamburger for the first time. The bite of mustard was tamed by the creaminess of mayonnaise, and the crispy savory taste of the bacon complemented the slightly sweet beef of the burger.
“They put a little brown sugar in the meat,” Finn said as if he’d read her mind. “You wouldn’t think that combination would taste good, but it does.”
The server returned and handed Finn his soda. He took a sip and snagged another of Keira’s fries. After a minute or so, he wiped his hands on his napkin and took one of the hands Keira had wrapped around her glass. He gently toyed with her fingers before lacing them with his. “I’ve missed you,” he said, his voice husky and deep.
She tightened her fingers around his. “Have you?” Her own voice came out in a throaty rasp.
He gave a nod. “Even if you are being cagey,” he said, a slight smile playing around his mouth. “I understand women need to be mysterious. Especially one like you.”
Her brows shot up. “One like me? What does that mean?”
“I don’t mean anything bad by it.” He brought her hand to his mouth and pressed a warm kiss to her knuckles. His cerulean eyes darkened with the beginnings of desire. “Means you’re full of surprises, and I like surprises.”
The server approached with Finn’s order. Finn released her hand and sat back. After they both assured the server they didn’t need anything else, he walked away.
Keeping to their deal, Finn halved his burger and then picked up his half and finished it off. When she realized how much she was enjoying watching him eat, she shook her head. She was acting like a besotted teenager. While she didn’t begrudge herself a friendship with Finn—and maybe something a little more, like friends with benefits—she still hadn’t changed her mind about getting emotionally involved with him. Even though she couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to give her heart to him. To have him love her back.
To have a family again.
If they wanted it badly enough, she knew they could make it work. She wasn’t sure, though, that they could move beyond their pasts with all their hurts and disappointments to build a future together.
Right now, if she let him get too close, he’d be more likely to figure out she was up to something, and she wasn’t ready for that. She didn’t like lying to him, because friends didn’t do that to each other.
She focused on her own food and made sure to keep their conversation light, because Finn was one sharp cookie. Not much got past him, and without knowing where he stood on things she didn’t want to clue him in on what she was up to.
Finished with his meal, he wiped his mouth on the paper napkin and crumpled it, tossing it onto his plate. “Damn, that was good.” He glanced around. “Coming here was a great idea.”
“Thanks. I’m glad you could join me.” She’d eaten all of her salad and had made it through all of her fries and had only a bite or two of burger left, but she was close to being stuffed. She had to stop now, or she’d have to be rolled out the door. She crisscrossed her silverware on her plate to signal the waiter she was done.
“You’re not gonna finish that?” Finn asked.
She shook her head. “I’m full.”
“Hmm.” He shoved his plate out of the way and slid hers in front of him. He finished off the food and then leaned back, patting his stomach. “No sense in letting it go to waste.”
“No, instead we’ll let it go to your waist,” she murmured.
He grinned. “Demon metabolism,” he boasted with another pat on his flat belly. “Plus my