My chin lifted. "No."
He glanced toward my soup. "You're not eating."
I pointed to his sandwich. "Neither are you."
"Maybe I'm not hungry."
"Yeah, well maybeI'mnot hungry either." Except now that I thought about it, I was absolutely starving.Butdid I admit it? Heck no.He didn't deserve the satisfaction – of what, I had no idea.
"I'll make you a deal," he said.
"Anotherone?"
He nodded. "If you eat your soup, I'll eat my sandwich."
"Why?"
"Because you're hungry."
"But I just told you that I'm not."
He chuckled. "Yeah, but you were lying."
I glowered across the table. "Did you just call me a liar?"
"About not being hungry?" He grinned. "Hell yeah."
The grin made my heart do a funny little flop, which only annoyed me further. "And howexactlydo you know this?"
"You said so."
I blinked. "What?"
"Yeah. In the candy store – you told your co-worker you were starving."
Had I?I'd been so flustered, I could hardly recall.
When I made no reply, Cole said, "So, either you were lying then, or you're lying now. Regardless, the deal stands." He gave my soup another glance. "Ifyoueat, I'll eat, too."
The guy was too tricky by half.
As I watched, he lifted his sandwich with both hands and took a giant bite, as if to say,"Hey, I'm living up to my end of the deal."
Hah! Two could play at this game.I grabbed my spoon and dug deep into my bowl. And then, with a smug smile, I lifted the spoon to my lips and dumped the steaming liquid straight into my mouth.
Son-of-a-pup!The bisque was way too hot, and I almost spit it right back out again. My eyes watered as I desperately adjusted the scalding liquid in my mouth, working like crazy to cool it before I swallowed.
Finally, with an unseemly gulp, it was gone, burning my throat all the way down.
Cole eyed me with obvious concern. "You alright?"
I gave an empty swallow. "Of course. I mean, I like it hot." At the sound of my own words, I wanted to wince. The way I'd said that – it had sounded all sexual, as if I were talking about a monster-sized nooner and not my lunch.
As the thought lingered, I felt my tongue dart out between my lips. When his gaze dipped to my mouth, I felt a warmth in my stomach that had nothing to do with the stuff I'd just swallowed.
For a long moment, he said nothing, and neither did I.Was he thinking the same thing that I was?
No. Definitely not.
