He thought for a moment, a battle raging in his eyes.
“Mr. Greyson it is then.”
He sighed and held up the ice cream, which happened to be my favorite ice cream ever. “I brought a peace offering.”
I bit my lip and carefully weighed my decision on whether I should let him in or not. “How about just the ice cream stays?”
He pulled the ice cream back. “No deal.”
“Fine, come in.” I could use a chocolate binge after the day I had. I motioned toward my couch. “Have a seat, I’ll get some bowls.”
He held up the two spoons. “Bowls aren’t necessary.”
“Are you sure you want to share ice cream with me? That seems a little too unsanitary for you.” He had worried about those types of things when I previously knew him.
He surprised me with a wink. “I’ve already been inoculated against you.”
I felt a little heat in my cheeks. What a thing to say. Not that it wasn’t true, we had swapped plenty of germs in our day, but that was ages ago. Sharing food still didn’t bother me, so I joined him on my cocoa-colored chenille couch. I sat close, but not too close, with my legs cross-legged, facing him.
He handed me a spoon and opened up the carton. “Ladies first, or is it beauty before age?”
I took the spoon and scooped up a large spoonful as I eyed him warily. “Either works,” I responded before I indulged in heaven.
He watched me as I ate the first bite. His sweet and gentle grin had me feeling a little off.
I nervously ran my fingers through my still damp hair. “What?”
“I was just thinking about the last time we had ice cream together. You were in a similar outfit, but we were sitting outside.”
I wished he would quit talking about the past. It both bothered and delighted me that he remembered such details. I decided to ignore the memory part. “Do you have something against this attire too?”
“Not at all.”
“Hmm . . . then maybe I’ll wear something similar to the office tomorrow,” I said with a very wicked grin.
He hung his head. “I didn’t mean to offend you or demoralize you today.”
“Wow, you weren’t even trying. You’re good.”
He let out a deep breath and gave me hiswhat am I going to do with youlook. I had seen it before. “Kelli, I just want this company to succeed.”
“You realize we want the same thing then, right?” I took another large bite of ice cream.
He still hadn’t eaten any.
“I do realize that,” he responded.
I pointed with my spoon toward the carton. “I hope you realize too, that I may eat this whole pint.”
He dived right in with his spoon. He’d seen me down an entire container before.
While he was eating, I took advantage of his silence. “You know, you really need to lighten up. First of all, you’re taking over an already-successful company with good, hardworking people. Secondly, you’re in the South, and we like friendly people down here. And lastly, life is too short to be so serious all the time, even at work.”
He stuck his spoon in the ice cream and scooted closer.
I almost scooted back, but I held firm.
“That sounds like a speech I’ve heard a few times before.”
