Page 25 of Here & Now

She nodded and followed him out to the lanai.

“Have a seat,” he said, motioning to the patio table and chairs.

While she settled in, he went to the grill and started it up.

“Your lanai looks a lot bigger up close,” she commented as she glanced around.

He thought about making another crack about size but decided not to. Not everyone appreciated penis humor. “It’s kind of hard to see everything through the bushes,” he teased.

“It’s not my fault your date had a loud cackle that drew my attention.”

He chuckled.

“Sorry. That wasn’t very nice of me.” She lifted her glass and took another drink.

“No need to apologize. She did cackle, and it’s not like I had a deep emotional attachment to her. We’d only just met…”

His words trailed off when she looked away. “I’m giving you a bad impression, aren’t I?”

She shook her head. “Your personal life is none of my business.”

It was true, though he didn’t want her to think poorly of him. Why should I care what she thinks of me?

“I’m curious by nature, though some might call it nosiness,” she said.

“If it makes you feel any better, if it were the other way around, I would have been curious too.”

“You mean, if a guy was cackling on my lanai?”

He laughed. “I’m going to run inside and get the steak. Be right back.”

In the kitchen, he let out a big sigh. Why did he feel like he was failing at this? Having her over for dinner was just supposed to be a neighborly gesture, so why was he making a big deal of it? It didn’t make sense.

He took the steak out of the fridge, removed the packaging, and set it on a tray. As he sprinkled it liberally with seasoning, he took a deep breath and reminded himself that this was a friendly, casual dinner and nothing more. He could do this.

He went outside, put the steak on the grill, and then joined her at the table. “So, what do you do back home in Michigan?”

“You mean for a living?”

“That’s a start.”

“I’m a columnist.”

“What kind of columnist?”

“I write human-interest stories for a local newspaper, and I have a blog.”

“Sounds like a fun job.”

“It is, mostly.”

“Are you working while you’re here?”

She rolled her eyes. “I’m supposed to be.”

He chuckled. “Too many distractions?”

“Something like that.”