Page 54 of Back in the Saddle

She shook her head. ‘No, never. Although I’ve seen many of these in movies and TV shows growing up. Do you know if they make those huge milkshakes here?’

‘I don’t know about what you’d class as huge, but theyhave milkshakes. The food’s good, just thought you might be hungry for something other than pumpkin pie.’ He grinned at her. She playfully kicked his shin under the table. ‘Ouch!’

‘You wouldn’t mock the pie if you tried it. Gian’s baked goods are heavenly.’

‘I’m not mocking the pie, I’m just not a fan of pumpkin.’

She frowned. ‘In a pie?’

‘In anything, really. Muffins, coffee, candles … You name it. If it has any pumpkin in it, I probably won’t like it.’

Her frown deepened.

‘I know what you’re going to say – it’s the most American fall thing, how can I not like it?’

‘Well, no. I hate matcha and most people seem to love it, so I get it. It’s just, you know, you seem like a guy who’d like pumpkin spice. You have this warm, autumnal aura.’ She blushed and started examining her fingers with an alarming interest.

He opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by a waiter who had come to take their order. Hunter ordered a double cheeseburger with fries and, to Caroline’s visible delight, a chocolate milkshake. She gave the same food order but asked for a strawberry milkshake instead.

‘You’re not getting a beer?’ she asked.

‘Not in a diner. Anyway, I’m driving, so it’s just soft drinks for me tonight,’ he answered.

Someone put the jukebox on. A classic eighties tune filled the room, and he started humming along to it unconsciously.

She leaned back in her seat and watched him with a small smile.

His eyes met hers and he felt heat rising inside his chest. He stopped humming, barely able to hear the words of the song.

He didn’t know why, but there were moments that just looking at her took his breath away. She was beautiful, but it wasn’t just her looks that he found mesmerising. It was the way she held herself, the way the light played across her face and lit her green eyes. It was the way she smiled and the sound of her voice. Hunter could tell himself many lies, but he couldn’t lie to himself about this. He was attracted to her in a way that lovestruck teenagers wrote poems about before they found out that what they felt was desire, not love. And that as much as they could eventually go hand in hand, it was usually the former playing tricks on their minds.

Caroline tugged a stray lock of her fair hair behind her ear and coughed, breaking the charged silence. ‘So you don’t like pumpkin spice. Anything else you dislike as much?’

Hunter pondered this for a moment. There weren’t that many things he disliked. Sure, he had his preferences, but nothing felt particularly important to mention. ‘I don’t like when people try to please others at the expense of their own happiness.’

She let out a low whistle, leaning forwards on her elbows that rested on the table. ‘Wow, diving straight into the deep end. I was expecting you to start the debate on chocolate versus strawberry ice cream.’

‘Why should I bother, everyone knows there’s only one correct answer to that.’

‘Strawberry!’ Caroline said quickly, raising her voice.

‘Chocolate!’ Hunter breathed out, practically at the same time. They looked at each other and laughed.

She pretended to put on a sad expression and said, ‘No, this is just wrong. Now we won’t be able to share dessert.’

‘Maybe I’ll bring you over to the dark side.’

‘Aha, so you admit that liking chocolate is the dark side!’She laughed again, and he shook his head in disbelief.

Their food arrived shortly after. Without waiting for him, Caroline eagerly bit into her burger. ‘This is delicious. Have you been here before?’

‘I come here with my dad sometimes after, you know … his appointments,’ he finished clumsily, pretending to focus on his burger. He felt her worried eyes on him as he ate, her own burger back on the plate.

‘It must be hard for you and your family.’

He nodded, focusing on his food.

‘Do you want to talk about it?’ she asked gently.