Page 9 of One Kind Soul

“So . . .” she began, pulling her sweater tighter around her. “Tessa said you own an orchard or something?”

“Orchard and farm, yes.” His face brightened and the cowboy image sketched itself in with a bit more detail after hearing the word farm. “We grow all sorts of stuff and have a little storefront on the property.”

“We?” Nicole could have sworn Tessa had said Christian was single.

“Yeah, me and my two farmhands, Benjamin Howell and Jared Cranston, and Rada Ahmid who runs the storefront. It’s a big farm so I can’t do it all by myself.”

Employees. Okay. That made sense and quickly erased the vision of Christian cozying up to some chick after a long day of farm work.

Not that he couldn’t cozy up to some chick if he wanted to. He could. None of Nicole’s business.

“And Tessa said you work at that resort where she danced on Kauai?” Christian took a sip from the ginger ale he’d ordered, scoring big points for not ordering booze because he was the driver.

“Yeah. Just waitstaff. Nothing as glamorous or as talented as dancing like Tessa.” She was a behind-the-scenes person and she liked it that way.

“I believe the waitstaff is the glue. You guys keep people happy with your service and happy guests spend money staying at resorts and visiting restaurants.” He waved a hand at the pub around them. “Without people in your line of work, we’d spend our lives cooking for ourselves. While that is fun, it’s nice to take a break and let someone else do it.”

“Do you cook?”

“Yeah. Since owning the farm though, I’m a snob about ingredients.” His gaze lingered on her mouth for a second and Nicole wondered what was going on in his head. “Do you cook?”

She shook her head. “No, but I’m a bartender.”

Christian held up both his hands. “Hold on. Great idea coming. Ready?”

“I guess so.”

“For our checkers rematch, I’ll cook for us and you make the drinks.”

“So now this rematch is an entire event?” Nicole’s stomach fluttered over how much like setting up a date this all sounded.

“Absolutely,” Christian said. “Why not?”

She didn’t have a good answer to why not so she said, “Sure. Okay.”

“Great.” Christian dove into his meal so Nicole did the same, running through drink possibilities in her head.

“What pairs well with defeat?” she asked. “I want to have a drink ready for you.”

Christian smiled around the napkin he had up to his lips. “My game was rusty today. It’s been years since I’ve played. Cut me a break.”

“I don’t cut breaks. I conquer.”

“Tessa mentioned you’re a little sassy.” He arched one brow at her.

“She mentioned you’re a flirt.”

His shoulders lowered a little. “A flirt. Yes.”

“I’m sorry.” His face seemed sad and she had a desperate need to change that for him. “Do you not want to be a flirt?”

His lips puckered out as he drew a thick-cut fry through ketchup on his plate. “No. I know I’m a flirt, but I’m not just a flirt.”

“Right. You’re a defeated checker player too.”

His smile was back. “Temporarily.”

They enjoyed more conversation, mostly about Tessa and Donovan, and finished their dinners. After hitting the restrooms, they were ready for the drive to Maplehaven.