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His eyes cut to hers and her face and neck flamed hot.
Shit.
Had she really just said that out loud?
Her mind scrambled to come up with something funny to say to deflect from her previous comment. But she was caught in his heated gaze and she was no longer breathing.
“Dinner’s ready.” Nikki stepped into the room.
“Ma!” Amber yelled, reaching for her mother.
Zara took full advantage of the distraction and hurried around Nikki and Asa to the kitchen. “Great! I’m starving.”
Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy. That…that wasn’t anything to think about. Who didn’t accidentally flirt with their friends sometimes? She made a face. She didn’t. She never flirted with friends because she knew how easily something could be assumed or misconstrued.
And it wasn’t like she hadn’t meant it.
Wait. No. She didn’t mean it.
Holy crap.
She opened André and Nikki’s freezer and stuck her head inside. Cold air rushed over her heated face.
It wasn’t like she thought about his beard all the time or something. She’d noticed it, sure. It was a nice beard. Short and dark and thick. Sometimes she wondered if it would feel soft or rough on her…hands.
Stop it! Stop it immediately! No sexy thoughts about Asa! What is wrong with you?
“What are you doing?”
She yanked her head out of the freezer to find Nikki giving her a weird look. “Nothing.”
Nikki’s eyebrows lifted. “Nothing?”
“I was looking for something?”
Good job, Z. That’s waaay better.
A knowing smile spread across Nikki’s face. “Well, while you’re in there, could you grab Amber’s teething ring?”
Zara grabbed the teething ring and headed out to the cement balcony where Nikki had a table set for the five of them.
A cool breeze lifted the heat of the day and Zara was glad they were eating outside.
Dinner at André and Nikki’s had become one of her favorite parts of the week for a lot of reasons. But the small apartment had trouble accommodating several people. The cement balcony was large enough for a grill and a set of table and chairs and it sat in the shade during early evening.
One of her favorite restaurants in New York had seating on a rooftop terrace and she missed the open-air dining.
She handed Amber her teething ring and then realized that the only available seat was next to Asa.
When they ate inside, the chairs were arranged with one on each side and Amber’s highchair at the corner between her parents.
The size and shape of the balcony didn’t allow for that though.
She squeezed between the chair and the table to sit down. Pulling herself closer to the table, her leg bumped into Asa’s.
“Sorry,” she muttered, trying to adjust so as to give his long body more room. But her other leg was pressed up against the table leg. She couldn’t move over any further.
“It’s fine,” he replied casually, knocking his knee against hers.
