“I may have some nonsense to deal with, and I’m still not convinced that you and I can have a functional relationship, but if wearegoing to try being friends, then I need to put in a little bit of effort.”
He smiled. “Just a little.”
There was a knock at the door, and then Aaron stuck his head in. “Kids? We gotta shut this down.”
“Later, Brad,” Lindsay said, feeling fairly confident he didn’t believe she meant it.
Chapter 13
Brad thought he might fall over when he hit his intercom button and his visitor said, “It’s Lindsay.”
He let her up without question, but he was very curious about what she was doing at his apartment.
“We’re neighbors now, basically,” she said as he let her in.
“Sure,” he said. “You need a cup of flour or…”
She walked in and kept going until she was in the middle of his kitchen, and then turned around. “I wanted to thank you.”
“Okay. You’re welcome?”
She kept walking as if this were her apartment—right into the living room—and flopped down on the sofa.
“I was too dazed after taping to say anything coherent. But filming at the Food Channel yesterday wasamazing. I had so much fun. I mean, it was pretty scary at first. I wasn’t totally sure what to say on camera. But I ran with my instincts, and Aaron told me afterward that I did well. And my boss is over the moon. Me being on the show is good publicity for theForum, especially now that they’re doing more digitally and have a wider reach.”
“Oh, good.” Brad sat next to her on the sofa. He’d been watching a baseball game, so he picked up the remote and switched it off.
“I wanted to thank you in person, because not only did you give me something really fun to do, but I think you saved my job.”
“I was happy to help. Really.”
“And you got, what, a big cash prize out of it, too?”
“Well, after taxes and everything, it’s notthatbig of a prize. But I really thought I’d lose in the first round, so that was a nice surprise. Who knew you could win a lobster-cooking contest by making lobster rolls?”
“Priya Kapoor said last night that it was the best lobster roll she’s ever eaten.”
“Wow, really? That’s wild. Guess that seafood knowledge from culinary school is still rattling around in my head. But enough about me. I was happy to help. I’m glad you had a good time.”
Lindsay smiled. Then she kissed him.
Kissing Lindsay was always wonderful, so he wasn’t mad that she was kissing him now, but he couldn’t help but wonder why.
But then he forgot about his reservations. He cupped the side of her face and deepened the kiss.
She pulled back slightly and smiled at him.
Oh, right. Why was she kissing him? He looked into her eyes but couldn’t read her expression. Did she think she owed him in some way? Was she just kissing him to thank her for getting her on TV?
“I hope you know,” he said, “I didn’t expect anything in return. I wanted to help.”
“I know. You make it hard to hate you when you’re selfless like that.”
“Well, good. I don’t want you to hate me.”
She looked away for a moment before meeting his gaze again. “I don’t…understand.”
“What don’t you understand?”
