Uninvolved (6 page)

In five
.
Meet
you at the front entrance.

Sounds good.

Becka
had brought lunch today but
figured she could
just eat it the next day
.
She
pulled out her compact
,
checked her makeup
,
and
then popped a stick of vanilla mint gum into her mouth
.
Becka
was thrilled
she hadn’t overslept and
looked cute today
.
She was wearing a black and white chevron printed she
ath dress with a coral cardigan
.
Becka texted Lucy an
OMG Nate asked me out to lunch
before she left.
She met
Nate
at the main entrance of their building
.

Nate
worked on the second floor while her office was on the first
.
He was already there waiting for her
.
She admired him as she approached
.
Nate
was wearing khaki slacks with a light blue
-
striped dress s
hirt
. All she could think was
“
don’t trip, don’t trip, don’t trip
”
as she approached him.
He looked edible, and Becka
would be inches away fr
om him in his car in a minute.

In his car!
Becka
was not sure why that thought excited her so much
,
but she was also thrilled to see there was no one else coming with them
.
She could pretend it was a date
.
Easy
crazy person, she thought to
herself
.
This
is
just lunch
.
Taking a deep breath
,
she slowly made
her way over to him.

"Hey
,
kid
,
" he said once she reached him.

"Kid?
" she smirked.

"Yep
.
Come
on
.
L
et's go
.
"
Nate
laughed.

Becka
wasn’t sure how she felt about his nickname
.
She really wasn’t sure if it was a good or bad thing
.
Plus
,
she was pretty sure he could call her just about anything
,
and she would be cool with it
.
He drove a black Nissan SUV
.
Becka
careful
ly climbed into her seat
.
T
he skirt of her dress was pencil st
yle
and
,
since the seat was higher than that of her Corolla
,
she had to back up to the
seat
and
hoist h
erself up before
swing
ing
her legs around.

"Got it
?
"
Nate
grinned once she was settled.

Becka
was blushing
as she buckled her seat belt
.
Short of flashing a lot of leg
,
it had seemed sensible at the time.
Checking herself out in the side mirror
,
Becka fluffed her hair and then turned to
Nate
with a grin as he started the car
.
His radio was tuned to a sports talk show
.
He turned it d
own as they left the parking lot
. He
reached into the center console and pulled out an
iPod
.

"Linkin Park good?" he asked
,
scrolling through his playlist.

"Are you brave enough to put it on shuffle and let me judge you?"
Becka
countered.

"Alright
,
kid
.
You
don’t scare me
,
" he replied.

"Seriously, why do you keep calling me kid?
You know that's not my name, right
?
Besides, how old do you think I am?
"
Becka
asked.

They were at a red light
,
so
Nate
made a production of looking her over
.
Becka
reddened under his gaze but saucily met
his eyes
and raised her brows
.
He nodded and then turned back to the road as the light had changed to green.

"So
…
"
Becka
went on.

"You are definitely a kid
.
"
H
e grinned
,
looking straight ahead.

Becka
hmp
h
ed and crossed her arms over her chest
.
Nate
turned into the parking lot
of the Quizno’s
and parked.

"Need a hand getting out?" he asked
,
doing a bad job
of
concealing his mirth.

"I am perfectly capable of getting out of a car
,
"
Becka
returned
,
daintily swinging her legs to the s
ide and sliding onto her
feet.

Becka was a step or so ahead of
Nate
. At the door of the restaurant
,
a handsome man
who was walking out held the door for
Becka
.
She smiled up at him
,
thanking him
as she walked in
.
Nate
stopped,
put
ting
his hand on the door
to imply
that he could hold his own door
.
The cute stranger checked out
Becka
one more time before leaving
.
Becka
f
elt
Nate
's eyes on her back
.
Betcha that
guy didn’t think she was a kid. Becka
kept her back to him
as she giggled
to herself
.
Her dress might be a pain to climb stairs or get into cars
,
but it did make her ass look amazing.

She ordered first,
and
,
once she got her food
,
she turned and asked
,
"Where do you want to sit?"

"Anywhere is good
,
" he said.

Becka
picked a small bistro table
,
thrilling in the prospect of close contact
.
She had to admit in that moment
that
she did feel a little guilty knowing he had a girlfriend
.
All of this was just
harmless flirting
,
she repeated to herself
.
Though she had to admit when he turned to come sit with her
that
that wasn’t true
.
If
he were to make a move
,
she would be all over him
.
When he sat down
,
his knee hit
Becka
's.

"Oh
,
sorry
,
" he said
,
reaching down and patting her knee.

Her breath caught
at the contact
,
and he raised his eyes to hers.

"Um
,
yeah
,
" he said
,
resting both of his hands on the table and looking down at them
.
"Let's eat."

Becka
bit
her bottom lip
to keep from laughing
.
At
least he hadn’t called her a kid again
.
That was really annoying
.
What
was he
,
like maybe three years older tha
n her?

"You eat more than most girls I know
,
"
Nate
said
,
studying her.

Her mouth would have dropped open if it wasn’t full.

"Hmpxcuse me?" she mumbled
,
doing her best to swallow her mouthful.

"Really
,
where do you put it all?"
Nate
was flat out laughing at the horrified expression on her face.

"
Um, maybe it's genetic
.
My mom
and dad have both always been really thin."

Nate
was full on clutching his gut laughing
at this point
.

"What?" she huffed.

"I didn’t expect an actual family history
.
You are pretty funny
,
kid."

Nate
concluded his statement by patting her on the head
.
This time her
mouth
did drop as she ducked her head away from him and glared at him
.
He put his hands under his chin and smiled at her innocently
.
Ugh
.
He
is
so frustrating
,
she thought to herself
.
She could not wrap her brain around the fact that
,
two weeks ago
,
she didn’t even know him and yet here he was
.
S
o big and annoying and gorgeous in her life
.
Once they had finished eating
,
Nate
piled her trash on top of his and tossed it out before opening the door for her.

"Thanks
,
" Becka
whispered
,
looking up
through her lashes
at him as she passed in front of him.

Becka
dug around in her purse for her sunglasses
.
Her
purse felt like a black
hole sometimes
.
Nate
waited with her on the curb
until
she found them then they made their way to his car
.
F
eeling a bit daring
,
she
hitched her skirt up indecently high and climbed into his SUV
.
Nate
sat frozen
,
seat belt pulled halfway across his chest
,
staring at her.

"Need hel
p with that?"
Becka
asked
. She
reach
ed
across the console
and took
the clasp from his hand,
pullin
g it the rest of the way
and
clicking
it into place
,
trying to igno
re how warm his hand had been.

Becka
then shimmied in her seat
,
doing her best to pull her dress back towards her knees before buckling her own belt
.
When she turned to look at him
,
she was surprised by how
intensely
he was looking at her
.
His gaze was smoldering
.
It
made her feel warm all over
.
Nate
cleared his throat then started the car
.
They drove back in
an awkward
silence.
She
glanced at
Nate
more than once
,
only to see him quickly look away.