She paused in climbing into the Jeep. “If I say a bright, happy color like red and a perpetually grumpy temperament don't go together, will you still give me a ride home?”
Those mesmerizing blue eyes narrowed. “I’m not sure.”
“Then I’d better not say it.”
“Uh-huh.” He shut the door securely behind her, rounded to the driver’s side, and in a few seconds was settled in behind the Jeep’s wheel. “You think I’m grumpy?”
She pulled her coat more tightly around herself as he turned on the Jeep’s heater. “I think I’m smart enough not to answer that, at least until I’m on my doorstep.”
He made a sound that could have meant anything before putting the Jeep in gear. “I'd probably be offended by that if you actually knew me. But since you've been at the House since the end of summer and you haven't even bothered to say boo to me, I'm not going to take it personally.”
“Glad to hear it.”
“I guess you decided Payne’s grumpy too?”
Her defenses inched back up as he headed out into traffic. “What do you mean by that?”
“You practically jumped out of your skin when he offered you a ride. There has to be a reason for it.”
Lovely. Could she be more obvious? “That's a good theory.”
“Actually it isn't. See, you chose to ride with me, someone you think is grumpy, rather than ride with Payne because you think he's …what? What's worse than grumpy?”
“Who said being grumpy is a bad thing?” she demanded, all the while hoping he wouldn't notice she’d ducked the question. “If there’s such a thing as a grumpy spectrum, I’m on it myself. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m all about baby steps when it comes to socializing. I’m not exactly a people-person.”
“No shit.” He kept his speed down as he drove through Chicago's night-shrouded streets, his attention clearly focused on searching for patches of black ice. “Usually when newbies come in, they’re like eager puppies, wanting to make friends with everyone they meet, but not you. As far as I know, you haven’t made a single friend at work. You don’t talk shop with your fellow employees during those rare downtimes. You don't even eat in the breakroom with the rest of us. What's up with that?”
Was it weird that she was oddly excited over the possibility that he’d been watching her all this time? “Maybe I like the diner across the street.”
“No one likes the diner across the street.”
“I do. I mean,” she added grudgingly, “it’s not completely awful. At least I haven’t died of food poisoning.”
“Yet.”
Fair point. “What can I say, I like to live dangerously. Take a left at the next light, and then head straight for three blocks. My place will be on the right.”
He got into the correct lane and slowed for the turn. “You should try Noodleheads a couple doors down from that shit diner. They have the best ramen in Chicago.”
Immediately her mouth began to water. “Do they have booths where you can pull a curtain for privacy?”
He shot her a baffled look. “Why the fuck would you want that?”
“Because I don’t want anyone to see the catastrophe that would be me, trying to use chopsticks. I’d probably put my eye out.”
His low huff of laughter, coming from such a grumpy-looking guy, was too charming to be legal. “It’s not that hard. I could teach you how to use them in no time.”
“Really?” For some reason, the thought of Sage taking her out to eat ramen and teaching her how to use chopsticks made her heart pause in her chest. His hand on hers, as he slowly guided food to her open, waiting mouth… “Um…”
“What? Do you not like ramen? Because everybody likes ramen.”
“Are you saying that we should…” Go on a date? “That we should eat together?”
“It’d be kinda hard to teach you how to use chopsticks if we're sitting at different tables. Don't complicate things by overthinking, Daniels,” he added dryly when she couldn't figure out how to answer that. “I just can't stand the thought of anyone eating that toxic diner slop when there's perfectly good food no more than a few feet away. The lack of chopstick knowledge shouldn't keep you from food that won't kill you.”
“When you put it that way, how can I resist?” Telling herself not to get too excited over the prospect of sharing a meal with the one man whose face she couldn't get out of her head, she reached for the