Page 20 of A Rebel's Shot
He wasn’t making her determination to keep it together easy. Darn the man for being so affable.
“Hey.” She pulled out the seat across from him, pausing when she noticed he’d given her the spot with more room.
He looked cramped wedged in the tight space between the table and the fridge.
“Do you want this spot?” She motioned to the two feet separating her chair from the one behind it. “There’s more space.”
“Nah. I like to see the door.”
The man wasn’t going to give her a break, was he? It was like protective chivalry was baked into his being, what with his insistence to help her in and out of his plane and the need to watch the door for what?
Madmen with guns?
Rabid polar bears?
The last one made her shudder. She’d take the men with guns over bears any day.
He pushed on the table, making a loud scraping noise as it moved a few inches away from the fridge. “See. We’re all good now.”
“All right.” She took the seat and wiped her hands again on her jeans once her legs were hidden under the table.
“Paka here was just telling me that the miso soup is the bomb.” Tiikâan leaned across the aisle and gave the cute little Iñupiat girl he’d been talking to a high five. “And that the agedashi tofu is… how did you put it?”
“To die for.” The girl couldn’t be more than four years old.
Tiikâan looked up at Merritt with a smile playing at the corner of his lips and a raised eyebrow. “You heard it. To die for.”
He widened his eyes and pressed his lips together.
Speaking of to die for. Her ribs were about to crack wide-open, letting her heart flop out into his lap. She pressed her hand over her chest to keep her heart in place and smiled at Paka.
“Thanks for the tip.” Merritt shrugged, feigning seriousness. “I always have such a hard time deciding what to eat. You just helped me out a lot.”
Paka nodded sagely. “And the apple pie on the moat is the best in the whole world.”
Merritt looked at Tiikâan for a translation, but his forehead scrunched in confusion, too.
“She means á la mode.” Paka’s mom sitting next to her shook her head.
“Aah.” Merritt focused back on Paka. “I’ll be sure to save room.”
For pie, but she’d hold the moat.
Unless there was a nondairy option.
“All right. It’s time to go, girlie.” Paka’s mom stoodand the rest of the table called out goodbyes to other customers as they left.
“Well, she was adorable.” Merritt smiled at Tiikâan.
“Completely.” He chuckled. “Started chatting my ear off the instant I sat down. We’re now BFFs. I’m sure we’ll catch up later on Snapchat.”
He said it all with such seriousness as he scanned the menu that Merritt wondered if his laid-back attitude ever got ruffled.
“Hmm.” Her eyes roamed the menu, not really reading the words. “Never took you as a Snapchat kind of guy.”
“No?” He put his elbows on the table and threaded his fingers together like she was about to spout something he really wanted to hear.
“You seem more of an Insta influencer.” She shrugged one shoulder. “You know, setting up cameras in your plane for just the right angle of you in your aviators to catch all the ladies’ attention.”
