“Yes,” I replied. “But some Jews pick and choose the rules that they’ll follow. Mrs. K makes sure she follows them all. I’ve seen rabbis in here for lunch.”

  “So her question was a test, then,” Alex said.

  “Not a test, exactly.” I smiled in apology. “More like a way to find out if you were Jewish or not.”

  “Is it bad if I’m not?” he whispered, leaning across the table.

  “That depends,” I whispered back, leaning forward, too.

  “On what?”

  I couldn’t help myself. “You don’t have to be Jewish, but circumcision is a requirement.”

  Alex’s mouth dropped open in surprise, and I bit the inside of my cheek to keep myself from laughing.

  “For you or Mrs. K?” Alex asked with a grimace.

  “Me,” I said through the laughter I couldn’t hold back anymore.

  Alex’s mouth snapped shut and he leaned back in his seat. He brushed off one shoulder and looked at me smugly. “I meet the requirement.”

  I snorted out a laugh, making him smile.

  “I knew you liked me,” he said happily.

  “Did you?” I asked, taking a drink of my coffee.

  “I was really hoping.”

  “You know how attractive you are—” I began.

  “Not prettier than you,” he cut in, reminding me of the night we met.

  I laughed and shrugged. “I was searching for excuses, and you”—I pointed at him—“were a little too sure of yourself.”

  “Confident,” he said.

  “Cocky,” I replied.

  “Comfortable in my own skin.”

  “Conceited.”

  “I give up,” he joked, raising his hands in the air.

  “You’re hard to say no to,” I confessed, taking another sip of my coffee. “But I’m being honest when I say I have no time. I work and go to school all week, and on my days off I clean my house and do homework.”

  “I’m good at cleaning,” he said, his lips tipping up in a lopsided grin.

  “Are you offering to clean my house?” I asked incredulously.

  “If it means I can spend some time with you, then yes.”

  “Done.” I smacked my hand lightly on the table.

  “Really?” he asked, his eyes lighting up.

  “No, not really,” I replied, kicking his foot under the table. “You’re not cleaning my house.”

  “Honestly, Sarai,” he said, pausing as the waitress put our plates down in front of us. “Whenever you can make time, I’ll be there.”

  I watched him as he casually picked up his fork and butter knife.

  “Look,” he said, putting his fork and knife back down when he realized that I hadn’t started eating yet. “You have a life and I have a life. Right now it sounds like you’re busier than I am, okay? At some point, I’m going to be busier than you. That’s just the way things work when you’re an adult. I’m willing to work around our schedules if you are.”

  “I’ve honestly never heard anyone put it that way before,” I told him, picking up my silverware. “Most people want to be the center of attention all the time.”

  “I’m in the military, and I have a huge family back home that I go to see whenever I can,” he said seriously. “You’re not the only one who doesn’t have a whole lot of spare time.”

  “It’s not that I don’t have a lot of spare time,” I said, beginning to eat. “I don’t really have any spare time.”

  “You said you stop here for coffee once in a while, right?” he asked. “So I’ll stop in with you. You don’t want to cook? Let me know, and we can grab a quick bite somewhere and then you can go home and get things done. It doesn’t have to be hard.”

  I thought about his words. The idea was tempting, but I still hesitated. “I only have six months of school left, Alex,” I said, meeting his eyes. “And I don’t know where I’ll be after that.” I had to put that out there. I wasn’t sure what his end game was—a relationship or just a little fun. If he was looking for something long term, I didn’t know if I could agree to that with everything up in the air.

  “I don’t want to be fuck buddies,” Alex said, his voice so quiet that I could barely hear him. “If that’s what you’re thinking. I’m getting too old for that type of thing. I want to spend time with you, as much as I can get for however long it lasts.”

  “Just friends?” I asked with completely feigned nonchalance.

  “Oh, hell no,” Alex said quickly. “I want you. That’s just not all I want.”

  I smiled. “Sweet talker.”

  “Give it a chance?” he asked, his eyes crinkling at the corners as he smiled at me. “If at some point you decide that it’s not working, we’ll walk away. No harm, no foul.”

  I stared at him for a long moment. It had been so long since I’d been this attracted to someone. It wasn’t just Alex’s looks that had me rethinking my stance on dating; it was everything else, too. His protectiveness at the party and the way his fingers felt threaded through mine, the way he opened doors and insisted on walking me in, and even the way he tilted his head when he was listening intently to what I said all seemed to pull me further and further into his orbit.

  “Okay,” I said nonchalantly.

  “Yeah?” he asked with a huge smile.

  “Yeah,” I replied, smiling back. My stomach felt as if it were filled with a thousand butterflies.

  * * *

  I was still running on an Alex high a week later. Honestly, I hadn’t come down from it since he’d dropped me off at my car after breakfast.

  I’d heard from him pretty regularly since then, quick texts to tell me he was thinking about me before going to bed at night and sometimes when he woke up in the morning. Pictures of things he was doing and memes he thought were funny. Thinking about them made me smile. He knew how busy I was, so he’d kept his distance but still made time to make sure I knew I was on his mind. In return, I sent him pictures throughout the day, silly ones like a leftover tomato sitting sadly on my plate, pictures of what I was doing, well-angled selfies, and an occasional sexy bare-skinned one. They were always PG-13, but Alex didn’t seem to mind. I never imagined that I’d feel giddy over a heart-eyed emoji, but I also never could have imagined Alex Evans. So far the whole thing was surprisingly simple and stress-free.

  I looked at the texts again for the hundredth time, then put my phone back in the bottom of my purse, trying to control the giddiness I felt rising in my chest.

  In less than six months I’d have my MBA. I’d worked so hard to get where I was, and I didn’t have the luxury of losing focus. Thankfully, Mondays were always busy at our accounting firm, and I fielded phone calls all morning, a task that held my attention and made the day go by quickly.

  By the time I stopped for lunch, I was itching to check my phone again.

  “I’m going to lunch,” I said to Elise, the other receptionist at our office.

  “Sounds good,” she replied, waving me off as she answered another call.

  I pulled my phone out again as I walked through the front door of our building. I had another text from Alex.

  I’m at Mr. and Mrs. K’s restaurant for the next half an hour.

  I checked the time stamp. Ten minutes ago. If I hurried, I might be able to get there before Alex left. I grinned as I speed walked to my car and climbed inside. My heart was racing. It had been too long since I’d looked into his gorgeous brown eyes.

  Chapter 5

  ALEX

  I smiled at the little old lady in front of me and raised my hands in the air. “No more, please,” I said with a groan. “I’m going to explode.”

  Mrs. K made a scoffing noise, then put more of the food that I couldn’t pronounce onto my plate. It was some sort of pasta dish with bow tie noodles and little bits of onions in it. I’d had a lot of good food, but whatever she was giving me was far better than anything I’d ever had in my life.

  I could see why Sarai loved this restaurant so much. When you sat down to eat, especially if you were alone, you were treated like family. They didn’t serve you and ignore you; they made conversation and made sure you were enjoying your meal. Mr. K had already come by the counter twice to pat me on the back and tell me I looked sharp in my uniform. Mrs. K had stood across the counter, talking to me about the weather and what had been in the news lately, and had informed me that I needed to put a little meat on my bones in case we had a hard winter. She’d said that last part ultraseriously, and I wondered just how hard a winter they’d lived through, but I didn’t ask.

  I checked my watch again as I shoveled more food into my mouth. I had to leave in five minutes if I wanted to be back to work in time for a security briefing.

  When I’d texted Sarai about meeting me for lunch, I’d known it was a long shot that she’d be able to come on such short notice, but I was still hoping. I’d been serious when I told her that we’d make our schedules work so that we could spend some time together. Yeah, it would be easier if we weren’t so busy, but that was life. Sometimes you just had to take what it gave you and make the best of it. It had been weeks since I’d seen her beautiful face in person, but I knew that she had a lot going on. She’d sent me selfies of her doing random things—standing in front of her door with a beanie on her head and a huge grin on her face, looking bored with her head resting on her hand in what looked like a classroom, making a silly face with ice cream all over her mouth. My favorite, though, was one she’d taken of her legs in the bath, her feet propped up at the end of the tub. She may not have enough time for me at the moment, but the woman knew how to make what few seconds she had memorable. I just wished I could actually see her in person once in a while.

  I hid my disappointment as I pulled some money out of my wallet and left it on the table. Sarai either hadn’t gotten my text or wasn’t able to meet me, and I had to get back to work. I’d kind of expected that it wouldn’t work out, but I was pretty bummed anyway.

  I was standing on the sidewalk stuffing my wallet back into my pants when I spotted Sarai’s car pulling into the restaurant’s parking lot. I lifted my hand in greeting as she drove toward me like a bat out of hell.

  “Hey, Speed Racer,” I called out as she parked next to my truck and climbed out of her car.

  “Damn, you’re leaving,” she replied with a good-natured sigh. “I tried to make it in time, but all these people kept cutting in front of me!”

  “They were probably trying to get out of your way. Not everyone drives twenty over the speed limit,” I joked, walking toward her.

  “I don’t drive that fast.”

  “You just were,” I argued.

  “Well, shit.” She gave me a lopsided smile. “I just didn’t want you to leave before I got here.”

  We locked eyes, and hers were bright with excitement. As I reached her, it felt like the most natural thing in the world to lean forward and press my mouth to hers.

  I’d meant the kiss to be a greeting, a small hello, but it turned into something different the moment our lips met. It probably wasn’t the right moment. We’d had two actual dates, and I knew that she was trying to keep things as casual as possible. I also hadn’t planned on our first kiss being on full display in front of a row of windows that looked into her surrogate family’s restaurant. But damn, the moment I pressed my lips to hers, she opened right up.

  My hands found her hips, and I twisted us slightly so I was shielding us from any onlookers. She tasted like mint.

  “You’re going to be late,” she said, pulling away.

  “Worth it,” I replied, chasing her mouth with mine.

  I’d barely made contact again when she pulled away with a small laugh.

  “I’m so glad I caught you,” she said. “It’s been too long since I’ve gotten to see that pretty face of yours.”

  “Funny, I was just thinking the exact same thing.” My hands tightened on her hips. “Fuck work. Let’s run away.”

  She laughed, and then we stood there grinning at each other for a long moment.

  “Adulting is the worst, but I can’t run away today. Big test at school tonight. You’ll have to go back to work,” she said teasingly, making a shooing motion with her hands.

  I nodded and leaned forward again, giving her a quick peck on the lips. I really was going to be late.

  I took a couple of steps back, then spun on my heel and jogged around the hood of my truck.

  “I’ll text you later!” I called out.

  “Sounds good,” she replied, giving a little wave.

  As I pulled away, I looked back to see her walking inside the restaurant.

  I’d known that I liked her, and I’d been pretty excited to spend some time with her, but I was surprised at just how happy I’d been when she’d shown up today.

  There was something about Sarai, some quality that was indefinable but present. She lit up a room. It wasn’t necessarily her looks, though she was gorgeous; it was something else, like an energy. Everyone gravitated toward her whenever she was around. I’d noticed it at Sean’s party, and I’d noticed it again when we’d had breakfast. People wanted to talk to her, and they went out of their way to say hello or introduce themselves. I loved it, and I wanted more of it. Before long, this whole quick-meetup thing wouldn’t be enough.

  As soon as I parked my truck, I texted her.

  Let me take you to dinner after class tonight.

  I stuffed my phone into my pocket as I hurried to my meeting.

  * * *

  “When you offered to take me to dinner, this wasn’t what I expected,” Sarai said later that night as I tucked a blanket tighter around her hips.

  “I didn’t expect you to agree,” I confessed with a laugh. “When you said yes, I had to think of something quick.”

  Sarai laughed. We were sitting in the back of my truck in the middle of an open field with empty takeout containers spread out around us. It was cold as hell but the weather was clear, and I was pretty proud of our little picnic under the stars.

  “You made the right decision,” she said with a sigh, leaning against me. “This is perfect.”

  “Long day, huh?” I asked, wrapping my arm around her shoulders.

  “Yeah.” She nodded. “Test days suck even when I know the material.”

  “Do you think you did well?”

  “I always do well,” she said confidently. She pulled away from me so she could get to her feet. I tilted my head back to watch her as she threw her arms out and turned in a circle. When her eyes met mine, she grinned. “And now I’m one test closer to finishing.”

  “It’ll be over before you know it,” I said, reaching out to rest my hands on her hips. “And then the world is your oyster.”

  “I’ve never understood that saying,” she replied, stretching her arms above her head before gracefully dropping to her knees in front of me. “Why the hell would I want an oyster?”

  “It’s a Shakespeare quote,” I said, grabbing the blanket she’d dropped and wrapping it around her shoulders.

  “You’ve read Shakespeare?” she asked in surprise, laughing as I towed her toward me with the blanket.

  “My sister, Kate, went through a phase when she was about fourteen,” I admitted. “She went around quoting the Bard for weeks.”

  “Is she older or younger?” Sarai asked, resting her hands on my chest.

  We were finally face-to-face, so close that I could feel her breath. Her eyes were bright with happiness and her cheeks were rosy from the cold, and I was so busy wondering if I should just lean forward and kiss her that it took me a minute to realize she’d asked me a question.

  “She’s younger,” I replied distractedly.

  “Is it hard living so far away?”

  She was staring at my mouth.

  Screw it.

  Instead of answering her, I leaned forward and caught her bottom lip between mine, biting down just enough to make her gasp. I groaned as her hands slid up to my neck and she leaned into the kiss. My fingers were still tangled in the blanket as the kiss grew hotter and wetter, and I groaned again as I tried to use it to pull her closer.

  Unfortunately, I wasn’t paying attention to the way she was kneeling in front of me, because when I gave the blanket a tug, she lost her balance. Everything came to a screeching halt when one of her knees collided with my balls. The sound that came out of my mouth was something between a yelp and a squeal.

  “Oh God,” she said as I gasped for air and tried not to curse a blue streak. “I’m so sorry!”

  “Not your fault,” I wheezed as she scrambled backward.

  I reached for her, pulling her back to me, slowly this time.

  “Are you okay?” she whispered, her hands cradling my face.

  “A little nauseous, but yeah,” I replied half-jokingly, making her laugh.

  “Poor baby,” she said, leaning in for another kiss. The brush of her lips was so light that I barely felt it.

  “My own fault,” I muttered, frozen in place as she pulled my top lip, then the bottom one between hers. Holy hell, why did it feel so good? I was more of a full-contact kisser, tongue and teeth and lips working together, but hell if this wasn’t more intense.

  “Thank you for bringing me out here,” she said, pulling slightly away so our eyes met. “I needed it.”

  “I’m glad you got a little time to relax.”

  “Me too,” she said with a sigh. She turned in my lap and rested against me, her head pressed against my shoulder.

  I pulled the blanket up around her shoulders and leaned my head against the cab of the truck. Even with my balls throbbing with every beat of my heart, it was still the best night I’d had in a long time.

  * * *

  After our picnic Sarai and I struggled to find time to see each other. I swear to God, I never had anything to do, and now suddenly it seemed like I was just as busy as she was. Sarai had classes Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays right after work and didn’t get home until nine o’clock. I had softball practice Tuesdays and Fridays after work for the stupid league I’d signed up for before we met. I was seriously regretting the day I’d thought it was a good idea to spend two nights a week playing softball with a bunch of guys I worked with all day, but if I was honest, my schedule probably didn’t matter much. When Sarai wasn’t busy at work or school, she was studying.