It had been an obvious assumption that he’d kept his boys isolated from the rest of the town most of the time.
“You’re a local,” I said simply. “That makes you one of them, even if you don’t hang out in town very often.”
Our conversation was interrupted as Charlie brought our order to the table.
I smiled as I saw Cole’s giant beef burrito. He’d gone for tonight’s special, and he was definitely getting his money’s worth.
My chicken salad was also ridiculously huge.
Charlie didn’t skimp on portions. The restaurant fed a lot of people who did very physical jobs during the day, like ranching and farming. She made sure they got the calories and protein they needed to nourish their bodies when they came to her restaurant.
“Can I get you anything else right now?” Charlie asked with a smile.
“I think I’m good,” Cole rumbled.
I nodded in agreement.
“Enjoy!” Charlie said cheerfully before she strode away from our table.
Cole shot me a grin that made my heart skip a beat.
Cole was already ridiculously handsome, but when he grinned like that, he was completely irresistible.
“I see that Charlie’s portions haven’t changed,” he commented.
I let out a sigh. “I’m never going to finish this salad.”
“I’m cleaning my plate,” Cole informed me as he picked up his fork. “I skipped lunch. That’s not a very substantial dinner. Maybe you should take some of my burrito.”
I glanced at my salad and then gaped at him. “This chicken salad is huge.”
“It’s lettuce,” he grumbled unhappily. “That’s not dinner.”
I laughed. “There’s chicken and a lot of things other than lettuce. I’m not going to leave here hungry.”
“Are you eating salad because you want to or because you think you need to?” he asked before he tucked into his huge burrito.
I picked up my fork and nearly told him automatically that I really liked salad.
That’s what I’d usually do.
But I stopped and really thought about his question.
I was starting to challenge some of my learned and mechanical responses these days.
Maybe being in the company of good friends and people who cared about me was starting to make me realize that my perception wasn’t always reality.
I wasn’t going to conquer my low self-esteem overnight, but I was learning to be more honest with myself.
“Probably a little of both,” I responded honestly. “I do like salad, but I also need to eat healthy. Unfortunately, I love food, but I have to watch what I eat. I have a really sedentary job, and I really haven’t exercised much this winter. I wish we had a gym here in Crystal Fork. I think I could use a weight loss boot camp of some kind. Truthfully, I probably would have gone for that burrito if my weight wasn’t an issue for me, but I do like my salads.”
“You should eat what you want,” he grumbled. “Your body looks just fine.”
I sighed. “I really want to be more fit.”
“I can make that happen,” Cole said confidently after he swallowed a sip of his water. “Come to my place every weekday morning at seven. If you want help getting to peak fitness, I’ll help you. There’s nothing wrong with your body, but if you want to be fitter, get stronger, and build more lean muscle, I’ll get you there. But only if you agree to eat what you want every weekend. Being fit doesn’t mean you have to be regimented every single moment of every day. Humans weren’t meant to live on lettuce every damn day.”
His grimace made me laugh.
