But she really,reallywanted the pickle, with a sudden intensity that shook her to the core.
With a napkin protecting her fingers, she picked it up again, bringing it to her mouth and blowing gently on it until she thought that the burns it would inflict on her would be in the ‘tolerable’ range. She wasstarving, and it lookedso goodthat she was willing to put her tongue on the line for it.
She bit down into the pickle, and almost made an embarrassing noise at just howgoodit was as the flavor practically burst onto her tongue – it was tangy, firm, briny and crunchy, with just the right amount of kick to it.
“Mmph,” she said, as she alternately chewed the pickle and tried to suck cooling air into her mouth. “So good. Oh my God. Here.”
What she had beenintendingto do was hold the basket of pickles out to Ethan, so he could take one. Maybe put one on his plate, if he was being weird about it.
What sheactuallydid was hold out the pickle she’d taken a bite out of, and shove it in his face.
By the time she realized what she’d done, it was too late to change her mind without looking at least somewhat silly… and she’d never been one to back down from a challenge. If she was going to look silly, then she was going to do it properly.
Instead of brushing the whole thing off with a laugh, she inched the pickle closer to his mouth and raised her eyebrow.
The expression on Ethan’s face would’ve been hilarious, if it hadn’t been quite so infuriating.
Seeing a grown man wrinkle his nose at a fried pickle, of all things, was quite the experience. While on the one hand she could appreciate a man who ate healthily, there was such a thing as taking things too far… and she was willing to bet that he didn’t actuallyenjoyhis regular meals.
There was healthy eating, and then there was joyless eating, and she was pretty sure she knew which one was correct in Ethan’s case.
“Go on, you big baby,” she goaded, wiggling the pickle under his nose. “Or are you scared? Scared of a little pickle?”
His eyes narrowed, and before she could react, hechompeddown on the pickle, his lips brushing her fingers. The contact sent a shiver all the way down her body, but it wasn’t enough to entirely distract her from the frankly hilarious sight of him chewing angrily, his face going through a range of emotions, from disgust, to curiosity, to resignation, and then – a-ha!– to enjoyment. He closed his eyes for a moment as he ate, and Chloe didn’t work too hard to keep the triumphant smile off her face.
“There. That wasn’ttoohorrible, was it? Managed to choke it down somehow?”
His eyelids snapped open, and he stared at her for a long moment, before he swallowed.
Chloe swallowed too, though for an entirely different reason. He had the tiniest bit of batter on the corner of his lips, and she wanted nothing more than to lick it off –
What the hell is wrong with me?? You don’t want a relationship! And especially not with this guy! He probably has a color-coded wardrobe just for his suits! His idea of a romantic evening is probably eating boiled fish and watching news about the stock market!
But he was also fantastic with animals, and he had helped her out at the clinic despite being under no obligation to do so, and excitement and mystery seemed to follow at his heels like an overly loyal dog.
And yeah, he was also insanely good-looking on top of it all, and he had caught her when she fell, and there was something about him that just made her feelsafe.
… Okay. So maybe she had abitof a thing for him. But there was no point in pursuing it. She was starting up a business in a new town, and he was presumably going to go back to being some sort of corporate asshole in the big city, whether he was an asshole in his personal life or not, and that was that.
To distract herself from the sudden pang of frustration that was shooting through her belly, she picked up the loaded hot dog and took a big bite out of it without even looking at it closely enough to appreciate what it might have in it.
But as it turned out she didn’t need to look anyway, because each flavor seemed to pop out on her tongue, with a depth and intensity that took her breath away. She had no idea where this diner sourced its ingredients, but wherever it was, she wanted to start shopping there!
The mustard was silky smooth and had just enough of a bite to it to make it interesting, while being balanced out by the sweetness of the ketchup and the relish. The onions and lettuce were fresh and crunchy, the cheese was warm and melty and flavorful, and a surprise jalapeno made its warming presence known.
And the sausage itself – well, she had to say that it definitely wasnotbain-marie offcuts! She practically moaned in pleasure at the taste of it, warm and hearty, and wrapped in what was hands-down the best hot dog bun she had ever tasted.
Chloe chewed, and then chewed some more, before finally managing to swallow the enormous mouthful.
“Oh.Wow.” She raised the hot dog to pass it to Ethan, since apparently that was what they were doing now –
And stopped, astonished, as she watched Ethan chowing down on a burgerof his own free will.
Nope, there was no denying it – he was definitely eating the burger. And enjoying it, with the ravenousness of a starving man. Which, in a way, she supposed he was. She couldn’t imagine having denied herself delicious food for… however long he’d been doing it for, especially given that he obviously had the means to eat whatever he wanted.
Had he been denying himself these things all along out of some kind of monk-like asceticism, or had he really never just tasted junk food before, and had no idea what he was missing?
She watched as he continued to blissfully devour the burger, apparently unaware of anything else that was going on. It was kind of cute, really, but eventually she had to clear her throat a couple of times to get his attention.
