Harvey could only imagine how taxing that had become.“Normal stuff?”
She leaned forward, hugging Dude to her chest, her grin impish.“Let’s start at the beginning.I’m Dominique Acosta, ex cosmetics salesperson, newly minted multimillionaire.”She held out her hand with a snicker.
Harvey gave it a firm shake.“Harvey Larsen.Shipwright, pet owner, probably older than Methuselah and if not, at least as old as dirt.I like my steak medium-rare, my pasta al dente, my favorite soft drink is root beer.”
She wrinkled her pert nose.“Root beer, huh?I don’t drink soda often, but if I do, it’s an ice-cold Pepsi, definitely not a root beer.Oh, and hot dogs!”she said excitedly, with a clap of her hands.“I love hot dogs.I know they’re bad for me, and my papa hated them, but I love ’em.”
“Mustard and relish?Or ketchup?”
“Lots of spicy mustard, onions, and sauerkraut, no relish.”
“I’ll keep that in mind when Asgard has their annual barbecue.”
She appeared surprised.“Asgard has an annual barbecue?”
He knew his words were warm when he said, “Asgard has many things.An annual barbecue is just one of many celebrations.I think, when the time is right and we’re not in such chaos, you’d enjoy a visit.”If he were honest, he’d admit he missed many aspects of Asgard—except for his father breathing down his neck.
“I think I’d like that,” she said softly.“Now, enough of the superficial stuff, like what kind of music you listen to or how you take your eggs?—”
“Over medium, no runny stuff,” he teased.
Dom cocked her head, the cascade of curls falling over her arm.“Really?I like mine scrambled.Anyway…I want to know something deep about you.”
“Define deep,” he coaxed.She already knew his biggest weakness.He wasn’t ashamed of it.It was just the truth, and he’d never been afraid to share the truth.
“Well, maybe notdeep-deep.It’s a question I read in an article in a magazine in the waiting room at my papa’s doctor’s office.You ready?”
“Shoot.”
“What’s a belief you had as a kid that you still hold to this day, even though you know it’s utterly ridiculous?”
Harvey blinked.He’d expected her to ask what his favorite color was.“That’s deep?”
She nodded, her eyes intense in the firepit’s light.“It’s going to give me deep insight into your psyche.The article said so.”
Harvey frowned.“Really?”
“No, silly.It’s just a fun question.”
“Um, okay.Carrots are good for your eyesight.I hated them as a kid, but I ate them because I was afraid I’d go blind.To this day, I still don’t love carrots, but I’ll never pass one up because of the fear my mother instilled in me as a kid.”
Dom laughed, a tinkle of a giggle.“I do like carrots, but my mother said the same thing.I guess mortals and immortals aren’t so different, huh?Now for me, it was something one of my childhood friends told me at a sleepover.She said if I slept with my feet outside the covers, monsters would bite my toes.No matter how hot I get, I still sleep with my feet under the covers.”
“In Asgard, that’s true,” he said with all seriousness, leaning toward her.
Dom let out a small gasp, her blue eyes wide.“Seriously?”
Harvey barked a laugh.“No.”
She swatted at his arm with a chuckle.“You jerk.Why wouldn’t I believe in monsters biting my toes when you guys have a hammer that talks?”
He grinned, grabbing her fingers to entwine them with his, and he didn’t even realize it, it happened so naturally.“Fair point.”
She stroked Dude’s back while he snored in contentment.“Okay, different track entirely.If Hollywood was going to make a movie about you, who would you pick to play you?And you can’t say Chris Hemsworth,” she teased.
Harvey puffed up his chest and gave her a saucy glance.“Heisthe obvious choice, don’t you think?”
She grinned back, just as saucy.“He is, but I think he’s busy with all those Marvel movies.So c’mon, who would it be?”
