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everyone’s into sports. It happens.”
           The fries were half gone. The half left in the basket taunted her, egging her to eat them. What the hell. If she gained a few pounds, the world wouldn’t end.
           She selected another French fry. “So why’d you move from Carolina? Portland isn’t exactly warm. Also, I’m pretty sure half the population is so ironically cool we all might be living in some sort of alternate universe.”
           He snagged a fry for himself. “I didn’t want to stay on the East Coast. Something different. A buddy of mine was heading for California. I thought I’d try Seattle. Got sidetracked by Portland.” The fry disappeared, and he picked another one. “You?”
           She could disappear in Portland. People in Portland didn’t care what happened in Sacramento. Her shoulders tensed as anxiety buzzed under her skin. “Same as you. Wanted something different. And I got tired of not being able to wear sweaters in the winter.” Her grin felt forced. She kept it in place, knowing it wasn’t fooling him, knowing, by now, he wouldn’t push for more of an answer.
           Thank God.
           By the time the sweet potato fries disappeared, she’d sucked down a third drink and knew she’d need something else in her belly besides fried potatoes and gin. “I need to get home. French fries and alcohol doesn’t make for a very satisfying dinner.” Sliding out of the booth, she wobbled as she got to her feet, jerking back as Taylor’s hand closed around her elbow.
           He frowned down at her, hand still cupping her elbow. The nearness of him, inches away, all cool and dominating should have sent her anxiety into overdrive. It had to be the alcohol, because she didn’t feel the least bit scared. No, she wanted to step into him, run her hands over his chest. Press her mouth to it.
           “Are you sure you can get home okay? Maybe you should grab some dinner first.”
           Before she could respond, he’d gathered their coats and her purse and was guiding her to the door, his hand at the small of her back burning through her sweater, the heat spreading over her skin. She wanted him to keep it there. Wanted him to move it so his arm wrapped around her waist. She stopped at the door and held out a hand. “May I have my coat?”
           He handed it to her, and as she pulled it on she felt the strange feeling slide away. She’d been imagining things.
           The cold evening chased away any residual weirdness. “I’ll be fine.” Tilting her head back, she realized he was standing too close. His expression had slipped back into the habitual aloof mask he wore. She needed him to step back, but she couldn’t bring herself to move.
           He must have read her mind. Space magically appeared between them, sending twin surges of relief and disappointment through her. The disappointment quickly overwhelmed the relief. He might crowd her, he might scare the shit out of her half the time with his invisibility tricks, but something about him had her letting her guard down in a way she hadn’t done around anyone in years.
           She wasn’t ready to think about why that was.
           His hand was on her elbow again, and she fell in step beside him before she knew what he was doing. He wasn’t moving fast enough for her to be stumbling in her heels, but he walked with a sure stride. “Mind telling me where we’re going?”
           “Are you a vegetarian?” He stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, and now she did stumble, Taylor catching her other elbow to keep her upright. Her hands were close enough to his waist it wouldn’t take much to reach out and place them there. Tempting. Too tempting. Her fingers twitched with the desire to touch him. Skim them up his back, hook onto his shoulders so she was forced to rise on her toes, bringing her closer to his mouth.
           His