He sighed. “Sit.”
She licked her lips, looking from the stool to him.
“You didn’t insult me. Sit.”
He grabbed her a bottle of water and screwed off the top. She just stared at the bottle of water worrying at her lower lip.
“Ms. Silvers. . .Arianna, look at me.”
She raised her gaze to his.
“Do I intimidate you?”
“Umm. . .yes. . .” she said cautiously.
He grunted. “‘Cause I’m so big?”
Her cheeks pinkened. She nodded.
“Can’t change that.”
“You’re also a little. . .abrupt.”
“Some people think that’s refreshing.”
“Some people, huh? Who? Your mama and nana?”
He grinned. “Yep.”
She snorted but picked up the bottle of water, drinking some.
“Here, made too much.” He slid over his place with the other half of the sandwich. “Share?”
She looked down at the sandwich then up at him. He felt sure she was going to refuse, but she reached out and grabbed it.
“Thank you.” She took a bite. “It’s good. Although you need to cut off your crusts.”
“Don’t like crusts? They put hair on your chest.”
“Yeah. Never got that saying. Who on Earth would want hair on their chest?” She started to relax.
He noticed the way she glanced at his chest. Was she wondering if he had hair there?
“One of my nannies used to take me on picnics. She’d make sandwiches like these. But she’d always cut off the crusts.”
“I’ll try to remember that next time.” The nanny took her on picnics? What about her parents? Where were they?
She took another bite and half the toppings slid out and landed on her lap. “Oh no.” She sounded so mortified that it caught him by surprise. She kept
her gaze down as she attempted to scoop everything up out of her lap and onto the counter.
“Here.” He stood and grabbed a cloth, wetting it and handing it to her.
“Thank you,” she muttered, still not looking at him. “Such a klutz.” She set the rest of the sandwich down on the plate. Her shoulders were hunched. Did she think he would make fun of her?
“Don’t waste the rest. Damn good sandwich.”
“Oh. . .umm. . .all right.” She took another bite, carefully eating it over the plate. He should probably say something to make her feel better, but he wasn’t quite sure what the problem was. So she’d dropped some food on herself.