Page 66 of It's Not PMS, It's You

I wished this man would make up his mind.

He held out his hand across the table. “Once again, I apologize.”

I glanced at his hand and then took it, shaking it. “Apology accepted.”

He smiled. “Good. And thank you for this delicious dinner. I was starving.”

“You’re welcome. And you need to promise me that you won’t skip another lunch while you’re working for me. Take regular breaks whether you need them or not. That’s the law, plus it’s the right thing to do.”

“I promise. And honestly, I’m usually good about taking breaks. Today was a little different though, after what happened with this girl here, and I wanted to get everything done before you got back.” He leaned down and petted Karma on the head. “I promise tomorrow I’ll be back to my normal schedule of taking twenty to thirty breaks per day.”

I pointed my finger at him. “Don’t push your luck.”

He chuckled.

I smiled and gestured to Karma. “What are you going to do with her?”

“Honestly, I have no idea. I’ve left voicemails for the owners and sent them text messages, but I haven’t heard back from them yet. I even had Brandon drive by their home, but it’s like they just disappeared. It doesn’t make any sense, but I guess she’ll be sleeping with me tonight.”

Lucky dog.

I can’t believe my thoughts went there. Was it the wine?

I picked up the bottle and then looked inside with my right eye.

It was empty.

“I don’t remember drinking that much wine.”

He chuckled. “I do.”

I laughed. “You’re not supposed to notice things like that.” I took the last sip of my wine. “Just so you know. I’m going to need to get back to work soon.”

Nick checked his watch. “At this hour? Oh, I forgot. You’re a workaholic.”

“Don’t start.”

He stood and started grabbing plates. “I’ll help you with these and then I’ll let you go.”

“Just leave that stuff right where it is. I’ll take care of it later.”

Nick shook his head. “No can do. I wouldn’t think of it. You provided me with one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time. The least I can do is help you clean up.”

Inside the kitchen, Nick began rinsing off the plates and silverware.

I grabbed a plate from him and stuck it on the dishwasher. “You don’t do well with following directions, do you?”

He scraped pasta off one of the plates before rinsing it. “You’re very observant, but can you get mad at a person just because they’re being nice?” He gave me a pouty face. “I think not.”

I tried to ignore that he was being cute. “Nice or not—you don’t want to get on my bad side.”

He smirked. “Hey—let’s get one thing straight; I’ve seen you come, and I’ve seen you go, and I can confidently say youdon’thave a bad side.”

Did he really just say that?

Nick turned to me, holding a dish in his hand, watching me.

We locked gazes.