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"Queen of Sheba Hell’s Kitchen," he told the driver, and then turned totask quite enjoyable"

"You didn’t getfor you, was it?" I leaned forward, giving him my best skeptical eyebrow raise

He sht ht so I could remember how you looked nad on my couch I’ve hired so before the painters arrive" He closed the distance between us and kissed me once, sweetly "So you there"

I shifted ina little like the world had been tipped on its end "I didn’t really think there were"Honest Easy to be around" I looked over at him

"I already told you I like you"

He reached for me, slid me closer, and had his lips to mine for the rest of the drive It could have been a minute, an hour, or a week I had no idea But e arrived in Hell’s Kitchen I didn’t want to get out, and IMax would ask e platter in front of us, edges of assorted vegetarian dishes fanning across the plate

"Take the injera bread and scoop the food," Max said, tearing a piece and deers, chew, and then smile at"Your ain, sweeping across the corner of his lips, and then he lifted his glass and took a deep drink of wine

He made me feel more than drunk He made me feel disoriented, reckless I curled h the fantasy of asking him to leave here, takein the car, he’d barely touchedto drive me crazy? Because seriously,down at the platter, and then did what he’d done: ripped off sorabbed some lentils, and took a bite The food was peppery, warood"

I could feel hi me, and when I looked up, he smiled

"What?" I asked

"You knohat I do at work, that my mum works for the company, that I have at least one sister You know about Cecily All I really know about you--other than you’re a fantastic shag--is that you o, left a real twat back there, and ith Ben and his fiancée"

Uneasiness nipped at my stomach, and I forced down the bite of food "I don’t know, you seemed to know a bit more than that earlier"

"Oh, I have a library of observations I’ you"

"You knohere I live Where I work and that I’ic to peanuts"

"It’s been a feeeks, Sara It’s weird that you still hold th" He blinked away "I’ood at being strangers," I joked, and when his face fell, I relented "What do you want to know?"

He looked back atto his cheeks as he closed his eyes, thinking He was so gorgeous;insidehis eyes, he asked, "Have you ever had a dog?"

A laugh burst from my lips "Yes My father always had Dalmatians, butyour pardon?"

"Labrador retriever and poodle"You A with our canonical breeds" I lifted my wine to my lips and took a sip just as he asked, "Why are you so scared of being with soible noises before he laughed, waving o Do you have siblings?"

I shook my head, relieved "Only child Crazy parents, so thank God they only had me Another would have killed them"

"Why?"

"My parents areeccentric," I explained, sht about theined Molasses, short-sleeved dress shirts, and bow ties They were from another time--almost another planet--but their eccentricities only made them easier to love

"My dad’s alorked a lot but when he’s not at work, he beco or another Mom likes to be busy but Dad never wanted her to work outside the house She grew up in Texas and ot married, she sold cosmetics from home, and then sold some crazy no-wrinkle cotton clothes And most recently, skin stuff"

"What exactly does your dad do?"

I hesitated, wondering, How can he ask this? Does he really not know anything about ht?"

He nodded, interested

Max is British He’s probably never heard of Dillons

Telling hi a heavy iron chain It was nice to think about being unburdened, but almost easier to leave it alone than try to lift it My entire life people had looked atwho my family was; I wondered if Max would be any different

I took a deep breath and looked at hiional, like, in the Midwest? But they’re big there"

He paused, eyes narrowed "Wait Dillons? As in ‘You Should Love to Live,’ Dillons?"

I nodded

"Oh Wow Your family owns Dillons Okay then" Max ran a hand over his face and laughed to hi his head "Shit, Sara II had no idea I feel like a wanker"

"I like that you didn’t knoho I was" I feltthat now that he kneas someone, he probably would look me up He’d learn about Andy, and realize what a fool I was to not knohat an entire city had known all along

Max would know I’d been someone else’s door a little deflated I didn’t want to talk about lives or histories or family I searched wildly for a new topic

But he spoke before I could co "You knohat fascinates lass of honey wine

"What?"

"The first night we ht in the warehouse in Brooklyn: the things you let ht, you flush at the word cunt"