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“Okay You ready to get out of here, then?” He nodded toward the end of the hallway “Or do you want to finish dinner?”

“What would be the point of finishing dinner?” she asked in a monotone that pricked the hair on the back of his neck

This strange mood ell beyond her normal reserve When he’d labeled her demeanor as brittle earlier, he’d had no clue how much more so she could actually become, as if he had to watch how heavily he breathed for fear of shattering her into a million pieces

“The point of dinner is so I can spend tienda items that had somehow slipped his mind in favor of the woman herself

That earned hilance “I told you I wasn’t a fun date”

“I’ fun,” he told her automatically and then had to clarify “Well, I was And then you disappeared”

Physically and mentally

“That was fun?” She tilted her head toward the dining room, her eyes incredulously wide “I ers’ sleepover ga?”

“All of it” He grinned in spite of her mood and accepted her scoith a nod “You heard ot no proble out of a restaurant in the s that aren’t fun”

“Really?”

“Honesty It isn’t just for breakfast anymore”

And finally, he scored a sht and full?

“I guess I’lance at him and he pretended not to notice

“But not with spending tie to reach out He wanted to touch her but he couldn’t gauge if her h to welcome it