Page 6 of Kiss Kiss Bang
“You heard me,” she said, her face serious. But there was a little upward tip on her lip. “Vegetable. The little leafy green things one eats that normally grow from the earth.”
“I know what a vegetable is.” He laughed again at the odd question. “Potato.”
“That does not count.”
“Why? Because it’s not leafy and green?”
“No because I bet you like it fried and in conjunction with a Big Mac.”
“True story. Okay, um . . . my sister makes me drink these gross kale smoothies so, I guess kale.”
“How can your favorite vegetable be something you just called gross?”
He shrugged.
“Interesting. Not a big veggie eater,” she said, a finger tapping her lip. “How about fruit?”
“Raspberries.”
“Oh yum. That’s a good one.”
He made a mental note that she liked raspberries.
“So you have a sister. Any more siblings?”
“We’re five. One girl and four boys.”
“Wow. That’s a lot of siblings.”
“Any more questions?”
She tipped her chin toward the computer. “Yeah, what did you uncover about me on Google? I know you looked.”
He stood up and walked around the table. “I didn’t.” He put two fingers out. “Scout’s honor.”
She laughed. “You were not a Boy Scout.”
“You know so much about me already.” He winked. “Why don’t you tell me what I would have found if I had looked? I’d rather learn it from you, anyway.”
She bit her nail and sat down on the couch again, comfortable, her legs crossed—crisscross-applesauce style. “Not much to tell. No siblings. Parents passed away a long time ago. I have a daughter, she’s five, who I need to get home to, if you’re done.”
She was looking up at him, so he pulled out the chair from his desk and sat down in front of her. “Tell me about your daughter.”
She smiled wide. “Sophie? She’s . . .” she shook her head and chuckled as if she was replaying some funny story in her mind. “She’s spirited. She is always on the go, doesn’t sit still very much, loves to play outside. She has all these cute little freckles on her cheeks and these huge green eyes. Not like mine, which are dull, hers are jade-colored. Bright and . . . just perfect.”
Dull? The green in her eyes was anything but dull. They were vibrant and spectacular, just like she was. And watching her talk about her daughter was mesmerizing.
“She sounds wonderful.”
“She is. She’s probably driving Winnie crazy right now.”
“Winnie?”
“My best friend.”
“Well then, I better let you get back to her. Come on, I’ll walk you out,” he said, grabbing the new laptop and leading her out of the building.
“Wait, you really fixed it? I mean, everything is in there?”
