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Once they were gone, I looked up at Lacey. “Want to guess what he was asking her to do?”

That made her stop pacing and sit down next to me again.

“Probably butt stuff,” she said, leaning close to me.

“Maybe he wanted her to peg him,” I said.

The buzzer went off, interrupting our speculations as the hostess took us to our booth in the corner which was nice and cozy. The TV screens on the walls played sports of various types with the sound on low. From the kitchen, you could just barely hear the sound of what was probably an international soccer game.

The hostess told us about the specials and handed us the menus that smelled like they’d just been cleaned with lemon-scented wipes.

“Please tell me you’re hungry enough to order appetizers,” Lacey said, her eyes scanning the menu.

“I absolutely am,” I said. “Want to order the sampler?” Usually I’d order just the fried pickles, but they came in the sampler, so I’d still get my fix.

“Perfect,” she said.

Now I had to debate between getting pizza or pasta or something else. Everything here was so good.

“Will you be okay if I get a meat lovers pizza?” Lacey asked me.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” I asked.

“Just checking to make sure it wouldn’t bother you,” she said, and I knew there was something else behind her question.

“No, it wouldn’t bother me at all,” I said. “I think I’m going to get the spanakopita pizza.”

“Shit, that looks good too,” she said.

“I’ll trade you some of mine if I can have a slice of yours.”

Her blue eyes met mine. “Deal.”

Lacey ordered a local beer and I was craving a whiskey and Coke with lime, so I ordered myself one.

The appetizer platter came out in a flash and Lacey and I had single-minded focus on demolishing it together.

Maybe I should have had a snack before coming, but it was too late now. I was hungry as hell and ate some of everything, from the fried pickles to the cheeseburgers sliders to the Greek salad bruschetta.

“I think we both needed that,” Lacey said when we started to slow down and pace ourselves. Our pizzas arrived and immediately Lacey moved a slice of her individual pizza to my plate.

“Thanks,” I said and then did the same to give her a taste of mine. Lacey topped her pizza with a few drizzles of the hot honey from the table and stared at her plate as if in challenge.

“Are you going to eat it or fight it?” I asked.

Her answer was to take a huge bite and close her eyes in bliss. Everything in my body tightened as she let out a sound that was related to a moan.

Fuck.

I could barely concentrate on my own food as she ate her way through every slice.

“I started making a list of books you should read if you like Lexi Starr,” I said when the silence became too much. Lacey seemed comfortable with it, but I desperately wanted to talk with her outside the confines of work, and this was my chance. I didn’t know if I’d get another one.

“You did?” Lacey asked, wiping her mouth.

I nodded and took out my phone and sent her the smaller list of five books. Lacey read the message.

“Just five?” she asked.