Now he was being cute and charismatic. Again with the mixed messages. He had barely said a word to her today and the sudden change in attitude was confusing her. She wanted to ask him what the hell was up, but she knew that his odd behavior was directly linked to the kiss and she’d made a deal not to bring it up again. So instead she decided to push past the weirdness.
She slid the salt-shaker across the table and smiled. “Here. You’re gonna need this.”
“I’m sure it’s not that bad.” He lifted a forkful of stir-fry to his mouth, chewed once and froze. His face went through a different array of twitches. First shock, then disgust, then total, blind panic. His lips were pressed together but his lower jaw just hung loose, as if he was afraid to chew again.
“Don’t chew. Just swallow,” Jordan advised.
He gulped some water and used it to wash it down the same way she had.
“What is this?” he asked, more amused than mad.
Using his fork, he tried to pierce a calamari ring, but its rubbery exterior could not be penetrated. He remained fixated on the task, determined to capture the ring as it continued tobounce around his plate. Food– as a general rule– shouldn’t bounce.
“I dare you to try one,” Jordan said.
His head snapped up to look at her. “I’m starting to get the feeling that you’re trying to poison me.”
He smiled and that sexy bottom lip of his was begging her to make out with it again. Memories of those lips on hers flashed through her mind and Gemma was right. It was the kind of lips she wanted all over her body.
Oh, boy! The next few days were going to be rough. Hopefully things would go back to normal once they were back at the office.
“I’ll try if you try,” he said, bringing her thoughts back to the present.
She wasn’t going to refuse that. Tyler Evans was going to willingly venture out of his comfort zone and she was ready to choke down one of those calamari rings just to witness it. Besides, she had eaten Danny’s cooking before. Nothing could be worse than that.
“Sure.” She reached over and took one with her fingers because it was evident that using a fork was pointless.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this.” He lifted a piece and they both held it just a few inches from their mouths.
“You ready?” she asked.
He shook his head, still looking uncertain.
“Go!”
They popped the calamari into their mouths at the same time and started chewing. It didn’t taste bad, but the texture was worrying. She heard squishy, squeaky sounds as it glided against her teeth. “It’s like eating a rubber band.”
“I imagine this is what cooked tires tastes like,” he concurred.
She snickered and continued munching, moving it from the right side of her mouth to the left but it still refused to break apart.
“I don’t know about yours,” Tyler said, chomping with more fervor, “but mine is still fully intact. It’s completely immune to the digestion process.”
She laughed out loud, covering her mouth with her hand because the chunk of rubber was so elastic, it could actually slip out if she wasn’t careful. The combination of chewing and giggling were beginning to make her cheeks hurt. She reached for a napkin, choosing to spit it out rather than attempt swallowing it whole. Tyler persisted for a little longer before he eventually gave up too.
“I would take Margo’s apricot-abomination over this any day.”
God, she really liked him when he was like this. She found herself wondering how she had never seen this side of Tyler in two years. Their interactions before were always comfortable yet professional and all it took was one little thank-you dinner to change everything.
As an attempt to distract herself, she decided to change the direction of the conversation to something a little less…cute. “Why did you give Margo all that money?” she asked.
He pushed his plate away and shrugged. “I saw potential. Most people would have seen a dirty beggar. I just saw a person who was down on her luck and needed a little help.”
That was the wrong question to ask, because his answer made her like him even more.
“My dad always taught me not to judge anyone, no matter what they look like,” he continued. “It’s a lesson I’ll always carry with me because it changed my life.”
That intrigued her. “How so?”
