The Way My Heart Beats

Chapter 4

"Lunch?" I ask, staggered at the sudden turn of conversation. I was doing just fine thinking those lips of his would satisfy the hunger I currently had.

He gives me a smile that dipped into his dimples. "Yes. Lunch. You must be starving." He says, swiping his keys from their spot on the counter.

"Mhmm," I groan out worrying my bottom lip between my teeth. "Starving."

It isn't any place I'd ever known existed. It is a small restaurant located inside an old house serving hamburgers, the really juicy, skillet fried kind.

"This is a good friend of mine's aunt who owns this place. She's from the south. She really knows how to make a hamburger." He says while we wait for our food.

"Really? My parents live in the south. I was born in Georgia."

Intrigued by this new information, his smile lights his eyes. "I've always had a thing for southern gals." We both dissolve into laughter at his corny admission.

"Oh really? And how did this attraction start?" I ask sarcastically curious.

"Oh, don't you know? It's that hint of southern twang that still lingers when you talk." He eyes me, laughing, while fiddling with the straw wrapper.

"Guilty." I say, throwing my hands up in surrender.

"So, how did you get to Chicago?" Damn it. Should I just lie? This always bring up more questions than I care to answer.

Anxiety courses through my veins. While portraying a sense of calm I say, "um, my ex-husband is from here," I answer. With those words my heart begins to pound anxiously for his choice of words to acknowledge my answer.

"Good for me?" He says, raises his right eyebrow and trying to ease the conversation to something lighter.

I chuckle lightly unsure of what I really want to say to that. "Grant," I pause to make eye contact with him, "don't get me wrong, we're undoubtedly attracted to each other, but I'm in no position for you to expect anything from me." I couldn't have said that more truthfully. I just can't give any of myself to anything or anybody other than what I've already worked so hard for—moving on from my past and focusing on my career.

"Clara." He says reclaiming my attention. "I don't expect anything from you. Yes, I'm wildly attracted to you. That sure as hell didn't take me long to figure out, but I also think it would be okay for me to kiss you if I wanted to." He says giving me a smile.

His easy going, optimistic personality is contagious. It makes me believe a kiss is okay. I know better. A kiss is always more than a kiss. But I can't help myself. "Oh yeah? Just a kiss? You're dangerous." I half joke, half knowing there was some truth to that. Maybe not so much in a violent way as in possibly fall-in-love-crush-my-heart kind of way.

"Dangerous? Never been called dangerous. Irresistible, maybe." His hand so close to mine I can feel the heat from the tips of his fingers.

"How about egotistical?" I say giving him a slight jab to that suddenly enlarged ego of his.

His deep laugh penetrates my bones giving me a sense of warmth. "I need to get back home, and I'm sure you need to get back to work."