Page 38 of The Meeting
“I’m sure.”
He waited for her and locked up after they both walked out. It was a beautiful summer day. Birds were chirping and flowers were blooming, and he had a skip to his step.
“Have a good rest of your day,” Chase said to Eileen as he broke away to walk to his car.
“Thank you, Chase. You too.”
He waved and slipped into his car before pulling out of the parking lot and heading back to his apartment. When he got there, he saw Kailynn watching for him out the window. She waved and pulled open the door.
“I’m going to go change and drop the files off inside. Would you like to come in?” he asked, gesturing toward his place.
She nodded. “Sure.”
He went to his bedroom and left it cracked as he changed out of his suit and into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. He didn’t mind wearing his suits for work, but sometimes they felt stifling—especially when it was almost ninety degrees outside. When he knew he would not be seeing any clients, he would occasionally wear jeans and a nice button-up shirt into the office, but he tried not to make it a habit just in case someone dropped by. The last thing he wanted was a client to think he was unprofessional.
“So what’s your favorite kind of ice cream?” he called from his bedroom.
“Cookie dough. I mean, is there a contest?” She giggled.
He pulled his door open after having changed and walked back to his living room.
“Um, yes. Mint chocolate chip will always win.”
“No, no. You aren’t serious. You can’t be.”
He raised an eyebrow. “I’m completely serious. When I’m in Italy, I get mint gelato at every gelateria I come across.”
She moaned. “That sounds heavenly.”
His throat grumbled at the sound, his mind suddenly flashing to a fantasy of having her in bed with him. He shook his head against the thoughts and motioned toward the door so they could leave. He pulled open the door for her and let her pass through before locking it behind them and walking with her to his car.
He glanced up and stared at the sky, which was slightly cloudy, adding a bit of shade from the sun.
“Would you be okay with walking? It’s such a nice day out.”
“Of course,” she said.
They turned their course of direction toward the street to walk the short distance to the ice cream shop only a few blocks away.
“Just to clarify, the heavenly part was the gelato part, not themintgelato part,” she said.
He laughed. “Well, if you ever come to Italy with me, I’ll take you to every gelateria in a fifty-mile radius of my grandparents’ vineyard.”
“And how many would that be? You know, so I can start expanding my stomach now.”
He laughed loudly. “Probably like a hundred.”
“Well, then. I guess I better get four scoops of ice cream today. You know, for practice.”
“Oh yeah. For practice.” He winked.
Within minutes, he was pulling open the door to the ice cream shop, which was quiet. They walked up to the counter and looked at the different flavors—both of their favorites being offered as choices.
“Hi, what can I get started for you?” the lady behind the counter asked.
Chase looked at Kailynn briefly, but before she could speak, he spoke first. “I’ll take two scoops of the mint chocolate chip and she’ll take four scoops of the cookie dough.”
Kailynn burst out laughing. “You know I wasn’t serious, right? I couldn’t possibly eat that much.”
