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She bit her lip and a somber look flickered in her eyes before she cleared her throat. “Fine. We won’t talk about your love life.”

A few minutes passed before she broke the silence again.

“What was it like being raised by your grandfather?” She smiled at me for the millionth time today, and every time she did it, my defenses weakened just a little bit more. I didn’t have to ask how she knew I was raised by him because it was one of those things that Sincere brought up at the dinner table to prove Goldyn and I had more in common than we thought, and she latched onto it, taking the bait.

“It was…structured. He didn’t fuck around when it came to order. He was ex-military and raised me like I was headed to boot camp.”

Goldyn giggled and sipped her root beer. “Did you ever enlist?”

“Nah,” I replied with a shake of my head. “I went to King’s Town A&M for pre-med.”

Her eyes ballooned at that before she probed for more information. I didn’t know why, but talking to her like this, one on one, instead of with Sincere and Enzo around, felt different. It felt like I had all her attention and that was addicting.

“Did you go to med school after?”

“No. But I got in. I was burnt out after undergrad. I worked my ass off to make Dean’s List every semester. Graduated top of my class. And when it was time for med school, I just crashed.”

“I’m sorry.”

My lips turned down in a show of acceptance. “I’m not. It led me to what I’m doing now. And I love what I’m doing now. Sincere has a lot to do with that.”

Curiosity flickered in her eyes. “How so?”

“He just wouldn’t give up on me. Even when I thought I hit rock bottom and swore I didn’t have direction, he stayed in my ear about what I used to tell him freshman year. That’s when we met. We shared a dorm and we became best friends. I used to tell him about all the herbal remedies my grandma taught me before she passed and he kept telling me to explore that. Until I finally did. He’s always been my biggest fan. Even before I knew what the fuck I was doing.”

“Wow.” Awe clung to that syllable as she smiled softly at me. “I love that. I love the way you and Enzo speak about him.”

I swallowed and looked over at the bar. Would it be reckless to get a shot of bourbon at one o’clock in the afternoon? Goldyn’s undivided attention was dizzying and something told me a shot would balance things out. But before I could decide what to do, a waitress walked over with four baskets overflowing with greasy food.

“Two roadkill burgers, all the way. And two cheese fries with jalapeños on the side.”

“Thanks, Trinity.”

“You’re welcome, sugar.” She scanned the table to make sure we had ketchup and napkins then turned away with a smile.

“I can’t wait for you to try this.”

When we made it back to my shop, it was an hour and a half after we left.

Goldyn pulled up directly in front of my door and shifted in her seat to smile at me.

“Same time tomorrow?”

I cut my eyes at her.

“Okay. Okay. I won’t push it.” She looked me up and down. “Have a good rest of your day, Rome.”

I hopped down from her van with a grunt and tossed up a two-finger salute before going inside.

Thankfully, Lottie was on the phone with a customer when I walked in.

When I got back to my workstation in the back of the shop, it took too long for me to get my mind back in work mode.

All I could think about was Goldyn’s contagious energy, the way she smiled at everyone, and the inflections in her voice when she got excited.

She may have tricked me into a long lunch break, but I didn’t hate it.

And when she showed up the next day and the day after that, I didn’t hate that either.