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gentleman.”
    She stared at him with wide eyes and nodded dumbly. She’d had no idea he would be so charming.
    He opened her door and held out his hand to help her out of the big truck. His hand was warm and slightly rough and entirely too wonderful. She forced herself to remember the picture of his girlfriend and reminded herself she was not a poacher. She was surprised when he led her past the front door to a side entrance that led to the kitchen.
    “This is our restaurant.” He smiled at her questioning look. “Best food in town. Come on.”
    They were greeted cheerily by the kitchen staff, and Josh introduced her to Maurice, the head chef. He looked to be around forty and was handsome in his white chef’s jacket. It surprised her when he grabbed her shoulders and kissed both her cheeks.
    Josh laughed as he showed her to a table in the back of the kitchen. “Sorry about that. He’s very, um, friendly. He’s a great guy, though. You don’t mind eating here in the kitchen, do you?”
    “No, not at all. I’m not dressed for a place like this.”
    “You’d be surprised. People wear all sorts of stuff to eat here.” At her questioning look, he explained. “I usually cook, but when we’re short on waitstaff, I fill in. Maurice, what’s the special tonight?”
    “Fresh salmon in parchment paper with a champagne dill reduction. You better try it, Josh.”
    “How does that sound?” he asked her.
    It sounded pricey. “Oh, I don’t want, um, I’ll just have a salad. A small one.”
    He looked at her for a long moment, concern on his features. “Hey, you know you don’t have to pay, don’t you? We own this place. I probably eat more meals here than at home. Okay?”
    She nodded, completely embarrassed, but glad he seemed to understand her dilemma. “Okay, yeah. Salmon sounds great.” Another food she’d never tasted. Her mom’s culinary exertions were limited to things that came out of a box, and that was before her dad had gone away and her mother had become entrenched in drugs and alcohol. Now there were no culinary efforts.
    Josh disappeared for a few minutes and returned with salads and bread, as well as a pitcher of iced tea. They chatted amiably while they enjoyed their first course. When Bernie dropped her usual guard, she was able to hold an intelligent conversation. Josh was fun and easy to talk to, and she was surprised to find they had a lot in common. Well, maybe not in their life circumstances, but they had a lot of the same opinions.
    Maurice brought their main courses, standing by the table as they took their first tastes. Bernie watched Josh to see how he dealt with the paper-wrapped fish.
    “This is great, Maurice! Are a lot of people ordering it?”
    “It’s doing pretty well,” he answered, vainly trying to hide his proud smile. “What do you think, little missy?”
    Bernie didn’t know how she felt about being called that, but Maurice seemed so nice, she didn’t say anything about it. She took a bite, enjoying the delicate flavors and the moist fish. “Wow, this is really good. Thanks. I’ve never had salmon before. I like it.”
    “You’ve never had salmon? How is that possible?” Josh asked.
    She shrugged. “My mom doesn’t cook much.” Slight understatement.
    They rounded out the meal with crème brûlée, which instantly became Bernie’s new favorite thing. Josh showed her how to hold the butane torch above the surface of the dessert until it was a beautiful golden brown and let her do the second one. She didn’t know how to eat it but copied Josh, breaking through the crispy caramelized sugar to the creamy custard. She hoped she didn’t groan aloud in ecstasy, but the amused smile on his face made her think she might have.
    Later that night, huddled in the backseat of her car, wishing she had another blanket, she pondered the events of the afternoon and evening. She very much feared she was in trouble regarding the status of her heart as it related to Josh