should stop trying to talk to you.”
He reached for her wrist and playfully pulled her hand away, and Emerson was certain he could feel her elevated pulse. When he let go to reach for his silverware, she was a highly contradictory mix of relieved and disappointed.
“No, please. I find you thoroughly entertaining.” They both took a bite of their food. “You were right,” he said. “Overcooked chicken and what I’m guessing is a mediocre house white.”
Emerson noticed the swift change of subject but decided not to push further. It wasn’t like Dyer’s gin needed distribution help right now, and she hadn’t meant to sound so darn snooty about it. She leaned toward him conspiratorially. “Wait until dessert…it’ll be dry chocolate brownie with melty ice cream on top, I’ll bet.”
Connor glanced at her. There was something about his gaze that caused her heart to flip-flop. “You sound almost excited.”
“Are you kidding? It’s second on my crap-but-delicious food list.”
Connor laughed. “You have a crap-but-delicious food list?”
“Doesn’t everybody?” Unable to resist, she leaned a little closer. “You know, food that you can get great quality of, but somehow the lower quality food tastes just as good?” She knew that she should quite possibly be smooth-talking the other people at the table, but she glanced around quickly to find them either eating or having private conversations.
“I’m intrigued, Em. Tell me more.”
“It’s Emerson. Please don’t shorten it.”
“My apologies.”
She paused and took a sip of wine. A shortened name was a sign of friendship, occasionally affection. The idea of Connor using her name in that manner was more than she wanted to deal with. Plus, the sound of it rolling off his tongue made her shiver in the best of ways, something she really should work on suppressing.
“So, my friend prefers the giant dollar store white chocolate Easter rabbits to a Belgian chocolate egg, for example. It’s packed with stuff that’s borderline fit for human consumption, but she loves it anyway.”
Connor leaned back and folded his arms across his chest, and, sweet baby Jesus, his arms bulged. “That’s gross.”
Emerson took a sip of wine and noticed his had gone untouched. She admired his discipline. “But that’s only because you look like a guy who probably meal plans with sweet potatoes every Sunday and counts your macros. The rest of us humans like to combine the luxurious with the glutinous…the five stars with the…well, whatever the opposite of a fancy restaurant is.”
“Have you been checking me out, Emerson?”
Gah. She had. “It would be hard not to,” she replied truthfully.
Connor’s laughter was rich and deep. “Do you always speak this bluntly?”
Did she? Or was it just him making her ramble? She tried to remember the asshole on the airplane. The guy who had glared at her more than once. The guy who had accused her of being a lush over one teeny-tiny measure of wine. Perhaps he’d been having a bad day. Lord knew she’d had enough of them the last three months.
“You seem to bring out the worst in me,” she admitted honestly.
Connor unfolded his arms, and she couldn’t help but follow the movement. He placed his hand on her knee beneath the table and squeezed it gently before removing it. “Apparently, you do the same to me. So, what’s number one on your list?”
She could still feel the imprint of his warmth on her skin, making it hard to focus on the question. “I was once in a mall in Cleveland, and I had the most amazing food court General Tso’s Chicken. One day, I’m going back to see if it tastes as good as I remember it.”
Laughter burst from Connor. “You want to revisit a Chinese stall in a mall?”
“I do. Don’t tell me there’s no food you crave. Like, ever done a midnight run for a dirty burger?”
Connor appeared to think for a moment. “Swim meet I went to in Toronto once. Got me hooked on shawarma until I realized I’d put on four pounds over the course of the four-day event.”
This time it was her turn to laugh. Connor Finch looked as though he carried the same percent body fat as a coat hanger. She couldn’t imagine him splurging and was proven right when the dry chocolate brownie with melty ice cream came out and he lifted a hand to signal to the server that he wasn’t having any.
As dessert came to an end, the awarding of the medals began, starting with tequila. Two bronze medals, two silver medals, and one gold were