Max wiped his mouth with his napkin, then lifted his nose and sniffed the air. It was kind of an odd thing to do but also extremely cute. He’d asked her several times what she thought about certain aromas coming out of the kitchen, none of which she could pick up. He must have one heck of a good sense of smell.
“You’re right,” he said. “It smells delicious. Maybe I’ll try some of their carbonara, too.”
She couldn’t help laughing. For a guy as trim and well built as Max, he certainly ate a lot. While she’d ordered two slices of cheese pizza, he’d gotten an entire large pepperoni for himself and had already polished off three slices. She had no idea where he put it, but she had no doubt he could probably polish off a plate of carbonara with no problem.
“You probably can’t give me your recommendation on the carbonara, though, huh?” he asked. “Not with the whole bacon thing?”
She shook her head. “Nope, no bacon for me. But I’m sure it’s good.”
“You know, when you first made that crack about us both being pescatarian, I thought you were kidding. I hope I didn’t offend you.”
Lana smiled. This guy simply kept getting better and better. She vaguely remembered that part of the conversation they’d had back at DPD headquarters. She also remembered being a little confused, wondering what he’d meant by another of our kind. But then her dad had shown up, and she’d forgotten all about it. She considered asking Max about the comment now but decided against it. She’d probably misunderstood what he’d meant.
“No, I wasn’t offended,” she said. “Most people are caught off guard when I tell them I don’t eat meat.”
“Have you always been a pescatarian?” he asked, reaching for another slice of pepperoni. “Or is it a decision you made recently?”
“I’ve been one pretty much my whole life,” she admitted, taking another nibble of her cheese pizza. “Mom is a pescatarian and I picked it up from her.”
“It doesn’t bother you that I eat meat, does it?”
“No, not at all. It’s not like a religious thing. I simply never developed the taste for meat.”
Max lifted a brow, making Lana wonder what she had said that was so shocking. When she abruptly realized the way her words had sounded, she laughed to keep from blushing. “I was not talking about that kind of meat and you know it! Don’t even go there, or I’m going to smack you.”
He held up his free hand in a gesture of surrender, his mouth twitching. “I wasn’t going to say a word, but thanks for confirming the fact that your mind will head straight for the gutter at the drop of a hat.”
“You are so bad,” she laughed.
He was right. Her mind had immediately gone to the naughtiest place possible when he looked at her like that. It wasn’t her fault—Max was so damn hunky.
Max chuckled and went back to eating his pizza. Just like that, her embarrassment disappeared. She got the feeling they could say anything to each other and it would work.
“You said earlier that you’re staying at your parents’ place while you’re in town,” he said in between bites of pizza. “You don’t live in Dallas then?”
It was a casual question, but Lana sensed a little tension in Max’s voice. She tried not to read too much into it, but dare she hope he already felt the same chemistry she did?
“I’m sort of between living arrangements at the moment,” she said.
He frowned, his slice of pizza halfway to his mouth.
Lana laughed. “It’s not as bad as it sounds, I promise. I just finished my master’s program in organic chemistry at the University of Texas at Austin. I’m living with my parents while I’m lining up job interviews.” She thought a moment. “This is going to sound weird, but I felt this crazy urge to come back home, like I had to be here.”
“Well, I’m glad you paid attention to those urges, or we wouldn’t have met,” Max said.
“Must be fate.”
“Must be.” His eyes held hers. “Any of those job interviews in Dallas?”
“Some,” she said. “I also have several set up in New York, Boston, San Francisco, and Seattle. Even a few in France.”
He did a double take. “France—wow. That sounds exciting.”
She shrugged. “I’m just keeping my options open. I haven’t decided where I want to work yet. It could be anywhere.”
“Like Dallas?” he mused.
Max’s heated expression suggested that was the option he’d prefer. Considering the fact that they’d known each other for all of two hours, Lana was shocked at how open she was to the idea of working much closer to her childhood home than she’d ever planned.
