She walked away and I rolled my eyes.
“Well, she’s not going to get a great tip.”
“Oh, are you paying?” he asked.
“Well, no, but—”
“So then how do you know she’s not going to get a great tip?”
“Because her service sucks and I don’t think bad waitresses should get rewarded with great tips.”
“But I thought she was friendly and nice,” he said.
“You would.”
“Okay, and what does that mean?”
“I mean, she was rude to me. She barely made eye contact with me. She had an attitude—”
“She had an attitude?” he looked surprised, “I didn’t notice that.”
“I guess you’re not very observant then are you, Mr. McAllister?”
“I like to think I’m very observant. Abby.” He grinned, “I think you have naturally curly hair, even though you wear it straight most of the time.”
“Yeah, well, you can tell I have curly hair because I didn’t straighten it this morning.”
“The curls are framing your face,” he nodded. “Yes, I’m observant. You’d be surprised at how many men wouldn’t notice that.”
“Actually, I wouldn’t be,” I said. “Honestly, I’ve dated many guys who never noticed or knew that I had curly hair. I guess blow drying really can fool some guys.”
“Yes, it can,” he nodded, “and I also think …”
“What do you think, Mr. McAllister?”
“I think—” He paused. “Actually, you know what … I’ll save it for later.”
“You’ll save what for later?”
“My thoughts and opinions,” he grinned.
“Oh, okay. What does that mean?”
“What do you think it means?” He leaned forward.
“I don’t know. You’re confusing me.”
“You seem to get confused very easily, don’t you?”
This was going nowhere. I decided to change the subject. “So that was your brother last night?”
“Yeah,” he nodded.
“He’s very handsome.”
“He’s taken, sweetheart, sorry.”
“I didn’t ask for you to set me up with him. I was just saying that he’s very handsome.”
“Are you trying to imply he’s more handsome than me?”
“I mean, you said it, not me.” I shrugged, even though it wasn’t true. His brother was very good-looking, but there was just something about Dylan McAllister, a masculine energy that was sexy and hot and all the things that made a woman attracted to a man.
Not that I was going to tell him that.
Dylan’s mouth curled. “Well, you brought up that he was cute, so I just assumed.”
“You know what they say when you assume, don’t you?”
His lips twitched. “No, what do they say?”
“You make an ass out of you and me,” I said, even though I could tell he knew the saying before I’d said it.
“Oh, Ms. Waldron, Ms. Waldron, what am I to do with you?”
“Nothing except tell me what I have to do so that I can get out of here in time to get to my parents’ by one o’clock.”
“Are you going to be able to eat at one o’clock?” he raised an eyebrow.
“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”
“Maybe because you just ordered fried chicken, waffles, French toast, and a latte?”
“You don’t think I can eat that and then go for lunch?”
“I don’t know. I guess I’ll have to see.
“You can take my word for it. My parents make the most delicious Sunday lunch. I absolutely will have room to eat it, and they’ll give me leftovers to take home, so win-win.”
“Okay, and your parents live where, again?”
“In Brooklyn, near Prospect Park.”
“I see, and they’ve been there for a while?”
“Yeah.” I nodded, not wanting to divulge more information.
“Where did they meet?”
“Why are you asking me all these questions? I mean, does it really matter?”
“I’m just curious. I’ve not really met many people whose parents are still together and happily together as you seem to think.”
“What do you mean, as I seem to think? You don’t believe me?”
“I mean, they’ve been together for a while.” He made a face. “I couldn’t imagine being with the same person for that long.”
“Yeah, well, it’s kind of sweet, and it’s kind of special. They met in England, actually.”
“Oh, I thought they were from Guyana?”
“Kinda,” I didn’t elaborate more. I didn’t really want him all up in my family business.
“So what’s this Sunday lunch that they’re going to be cooking?”
“Most probably a roast chicken with roast potatoes, cookup rice and—”
“Cookup rice,” he interrupted me, “what’s that?”
“Oh, it’s a family dish.”
“Elaborate, please.”
“Well, it’s actually a Guyanese dish that my family makes. It’s made with rice, black-eyed peas, coconut milk, chicken, sometimes pig tail—”
“Pig tail?” He made a face.
“Yeah. It’s a delicacy, you know.”
“You eat pig tail,” he looked at me with narrowed eyes. “That I don’t believe.”
“Well, it’s not like I’m eating the tail. The tail goes in the pot.”
“The tail goes in the pot.” He wrinkled his nose. “Gross.”
“Don’t knock it until you try it,” I told him. “It’s quite delicious, actually.”
“If you say so.”
“I do say so, and I mean, it’s not always in the pot, just sometimes.”
“Okay, so your family’s having roast chicken, roast potatoes, and cookup rice. What else?”
“There’s probably a baked macaroni and cheese, and—”
“Wow, this sounds like a lot of food.”
“Yeah. Sunday lunch is a really big thing in my family.”
“Do you have any brothers and sisters?”
“Yep. I have two older brothers.”
“Oh, cool, and their names?”
“Why do you care?”
“Maybe I’m just trying to get to know you better.”
“Fine. Their names are Benjamin and Elijah.”
“Benjamin and Elijah.” He nodded. “Interesting.”
“Interesting?”
“Yep, I guess so. And are they married?”
“Not yet, but they’re both dating really nice girls as well.”
“So you’re the only single one in your family?”
“Well, I mean,” I bit on my lower lip, “kinda.”
“Kinda? Does that mean you’re not really single? I thought you said—”
“I mean I’m single, yes, but—” I sighed. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Complicated, huh? So, are you kind of seeing someone and it’s not working out?”