“Hungry?” Drew smiled, and it took Bethany a moment to register that he was even talking, her mind still focused on how handsome he was when he smiled. It had made her heart skip a couple of beats.
They went back inside the apartment and Drew pulled out the takeout menus of some local places. He and Bethany discussed the merits of each. Mostly she deferred to his opinion except when it came to pineapple.
“I don’t care what you say,” Bethany said stubbornly. “Pineapple should never be cooked.”
“It’s good. Especially on pizza,” Drew was amused by her. “It’s called a Hawaiian.”
“You can have what you want but I’m not eating it,” Bethany replied. “I’ve had pineappled ham once. That was disgusting.”
“Not the same,” Drew insisted.
“This is a lot of food,” Bethany looked at their list in concern.
“Whatever we don’t eat, we can freeze and have later,” Drew said easily as he called in the last order.
“Can I make a confession?” Bethany asked tentatively.
“Sure,” Drew watched her curiously.
“I’m not that hungry,” she bit her lip.
“Then why did we just order all this food?” Drew frowned.
“I’ve never had takeout. I didn’t know what to get,” Bethany shrugged, a little embarrassed.
“You do know that there’s Mexican, Indian, Italian and a whole slew of other takeout options, right?” Drew leaned against the counter. She was so innocent and sheltered. For some reason, it made her even more desirable.
“Really?” Bethany looked at him with interest.
“We’re not ordering them all tonight,” he said firmly.
Bethany smiled. “I wasn’t expecting to.”
“Shall we watch some television while we wait on the food?” Drew asked. “You can pick. As long as it’s not opera. I don’t think I could handle that.”
“Could we watch the game?” she offered.
“Bethany, you don’t need to watch the game if you don’t want to,” Drew didn’t want her to feel like she had to be the perfect guest. “We can watch whatever you’d like.”
“Good. Then we’re watching the Yankees play the Blue Jays,” Bethany said confidently as she went to the couch and grabbed the remote.
She knew the schedule. Drew looked at her with new appreciation as he sat down beside her. Bethany had pulled her legs up, elbows on her knees while she sorted through the channels. She had a smile of satisfaction as she found the baseball game.
If he wasn’t in love with her already, Drew thought he’d just fallen.
Crud.
Jana was going to be able to sniff that out in two seconds flat. She was an amazing investigator. He was going to have to pull himself together when she came tomorrow.
The buzzer went off. Drew, thankful for the distraction, went to verify who was there. He left Bethany locked inside the apartment, choosing to go to the lobby to pick up the food. It was easier to make certain that Bethany remained secure and safe.
He waited for all three orders then hauled the mess of food upstairs. Not having elevators was a pain, but the building’s lone elevator had been broken since long before Drew had started renting here. For some reason he had an apartment on the fourth floor. Jana and Miguel were on the first floor which was a good thing considering they had three kids.
It didn’t take long to divide the spoils and argue the pizza again. Drew liked nudging Bethany verbally just to see what she’d say. Eventually he convinced her to at least try the pizza.
She took two bites, chewed and handed the slice back. Drew laughed at her expression. Cooked pineapple was not her thing.
Chinese food was. They both gorged themselves, watching the game. At some point in the eighth inning, Bethany was slumped against him, sleeping. Drew wrapped an arm around her and watched the rest of the game.
