I watched in humor as Jim opened his big mac packaging and tried to examine it while Addy was distracted.
“Scared she might notice you turning your nose up at that?” I asked, then bit into my burger.
He smirked, then took a bite. I watched him, knowing this man had to have been adjusting his taste buds. He swallowed then went for his iced tea. “Wow, Addy,” he said. “I’m glad I picked the big mac.”
She dipped her chicken nugget into her barbeque sauce and chomped on it. She nodded in response, but was fixated on her meal.
“So.” Jim shifted to face me, ignoring the burger. “She’s a lot like her mother when food comes into play.”
“That’s an understatement.” I laughed. “In fact, she won’t notice you’re even here until she’s finished eating.”
“Fun date.” He grinned. “God, she looks just like you,” he said, picking up some fries and tossing them in his mouth. He swallowed. “She talks extremely well for her age.”
“Well, I’ve always talked to her like she’s an adult.”
Jim’s eyebrows rose in humor. “That could be dangerous, knowing how colorful your language can be at times.”
“We read too and I do my best to keep my colorful language at a minimum when around her.”
Jim only smirked in response, and then I noticed he was sticking to the fries.
“Afraid of the big mac?” I teased. I pushed my cheeseburger over to him, “Here, eat this. Some people don’t like the sauce on the big mac, but I love it.”
He opened the cheeseburger, and I laughed again when I saw the ketchup on the wrapper. “I’m not afraid of anything. I believe I told you that once?” He pushed the burger to the side and went back to the fries.
“Really?” I smiled. “You act like this food is going to kill you.”
“I wasn’t finished.” He winked, and that did something to my insides. I’d seen that daring wink before, and after it happened—well, let’s just say we were in a place where he and I could act passionately on it.
“Oh, excuse me for interrupting you,” I responded.
“I think that statement was true at one time, and then I lost you.” He took another sip of his tea, then his expression became serious. “It didn’t take me long to realize that there’s only one thing I do fear.”
“And that would be?” I questioned while shoving some fries in my mouth.
“I’m scared to death I’ll lose you again. I’ll admit here and now, that is my greatest fear.”
I smiled sympathetically at him, still trying to keep my composure at this confession. “Why don’t we just play it by ear?” I smiled, then nodded toward Addy, the one I had to keep at the forefront of my mind when it came to thinking about rekindling what we had in England. “You’re doing great, though. I think she’s quite approving of you, Mitch,” I reassured him.
“I’m happy to learn that,” Jim said. “Hopefully this is a step in the right direction between you and me?”
I studied his curious smile for a moment. “I think it might be,” I responded. I had to divert my eyes from his, before we got too deep with the conversation and Addy decided to chime in herself. That’s when I started popping straws into our milkshakes. “Who got vanilla?” I asked in confusion. Then I pinched my lips together and looked at Jim. “Vanilla? Really?” I asked him.
“Addy advised that dipping fries in vanilla shakes is the best.”
“They are the best. Try it.” The word milkshake grabbed my daughter’s attention while she’d been eating and coloring in her color book that came as her happy meal prize. “Do it, Mitch.” She giggled while taking off the lid to his milkshake.
“Addison,” I had to slow her down or Jim would be wearing the milkshake, “don’t be bossy. Jim doesn’t have to dip a fry in the milkshake.”
“Sorry, Mitch,” she said. “You don’t have to do it. It’s good, though.”
“I’ll give it a try.” He stuck the fry in the shake and chewed on it. I watched and smiled at him, finally enjoying a menu item. “This is quite delicious. I haven’t had a milkshake nor a smoothie since my trip to England.”
Fuck. He’s thinking about us tasting food off each other’s bodies. Goddamn, I missed this look and this man. I was doing great keeping it together too.
“Mommy went to England and stayed in a sandcastle,” Addy said.
“A sandcastle? That’s intriguing,” Jim said, eating more vanilla-shake fries.
“Like we build at