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“I smell like office,” Kitty cuts in. “Because that’s where I work. At a real office. With real colleagues and a break room and big windows. I’m responsible for the packages that arrive, and I get to provide food for everyone.”

“Oh, so you’re a chef who handles deliveries?” Ryan asks.

She shrugs. “Something like that. I refill the vending machines. On every floor, mind you.”

“That’s… nice,” I say.

“I hope to get a promotion soon. I haven’t gotten one yet, but I’ve got some tricks up my sleeve to convince the CEO,” she says with a wink.

Ew. I don’t even want to know what that wink means.

“You know what,” she says with a frown as she turns to Ryan, “now that I’m thinking about the way you described my job, I feel amazing. No one has ever made me realize that I am a chef. A snack chef. You changed that for me. It’s like you turned my world upside down.”

Ryan shrugs and smiles as if he’s extremely proud of himself. “Thanks, but it’s just a knack I have. Nothing special about it.”

As the conversation drifts away from jobs to reality TV shows, I try to catch Maggie’s eye so I can telepathically ask her why she thought Kitty and Ryan would be even remotely compatible with Colton and me, but she’s too busy showing her date that she can balance a spoon on her nose without using her hands to notice me.

“If you’ll excuse me,” I say, scooting my chair back. “I’ve got to use the bathroom.”

“Me too,” Colton says, getting up as well.

My eyes grow wide. What is he doing? Is he going to follow me to the bathroom? Because that’s way too obvious. What if the others get suspicious?

But they don’t. Ryan and Kitty don’t even pay any attention to us. They’re completely immersed in a discussion about who should win this season of The Bachelor.

“Meet me out back after you’re done,” Colton whispers. His deep voice makes my heart jump. What has he got planned?

Chapter Fourteen

Colton

As soon as Elle peeks around the back of the diner, I grab her hand and gently pull her toward me. I place a featherlight kiss on her lips, even though I want nothing more than to kiss her long and hard. I know I can’t do that, though. This is hardly the place and time for it, not to mention the fact that there’s nothing romantic about kissing a girl next to a pile of garbage bags. She deserves better than that.

Her face lights up with a gorgeous smile, making it even harder to refrain myself from full-on kissing her.

“Weren’t we going to go on a date first before we did that again?” she asks, her fingers touching her lips as if she can hardly grasp what just happened.

“I know,” I say while I trail my fingers over her arm, “but I just couldn’t wait. I promise I’ll keep my hands to myself from now on. At least, until our date.”

“When?” she asks.

“Tomorrow night?”

She nods. “Perfect.”

I look over my shoulder. “We should head back inside.”

“Yeah, even though I don’t really feel like it. I mean… snack chef? Shampoo influencer?”

“I couldn’t even tell if they were joking or not,” I say.

Elle lets out a laugh. “I’m pretty sure they weren’t.”

I let my fingers run through her red hair. “Truth be told, you could be a shampoo model if you wanted to.”

“Oh, Colton, stop it,” she says as if she’s embarrassed, but I can tell she loves it. “Anyway, I think Kitty and Ryan are much more compatible. Maybe they’ll end up together after tonight.”

“I totally agree.”