The Friendship List(57)

He glanced up at the wall. “Not a problem. Do you need to see it to believe me?”

“No.” She sounded glum. “I thought I’d be good at this.”

“It takes practice.”

“I didn’t get above eight feet. That’s pathetic.”

“How about I buy you a burger to make up for it?”

“I could eat a burger.”

He helped her out of the harness, then waited while she collected her bag. Unity paused to study the bulletin board where they offered classes.

“Maybe I should try a beginner session,” she said. “A lesson might help.”

“I’m thinking the swimming is a better option. Is there a club in town?”

“Uh-huh. I’ve never joined but I should look into it for sure. At least there I know what I’m doing.” She paused by his car. “First the tattoo incident and now this. What if I’m a loser?”

He stared into her blue eyes and fought the need to kiss her. Just one over-the-top, on-the-mouth kiss. But it would only be good if she kissed him back and he had no idea if she would.

“You’re not a loser. You’re challenged.”

She glared at him, then got in the car.

“We are so not speaking,” she grumbled when he settled in beside her.

“Is this where I remind you of the burger I offered?”

“I can’t be bought.”

“Want to bet?”

She laughed. “Okay, I can be but I don’t want to talk about it.”

He drove them to the local burger place. They went inside and claimed a table. Unity flipped through the menu before glancing at him.

“May I order a chocolate shake?” she asked.

“Yes. You have to keep up your big, strapping girl strength.”

She put her arms on the table and dropped her head to them. “I’m a disaster,” she groaned.

“In many ways, yes.”

Not able to stop himself, he reached out and lightly stroked her head. Her hair was soft against his fingers. He suspected the rest of her would be, as well.

If wishes were horses, he thought to himself, reaching for his own menu.

Unity straightened. “I’m done whining,” she announced. “I want to talk about you.”

Their server came and they ordered. As promised, Unity asked for a chocolate shake with extra whipped cream, along with a bacon burger and fries. Thaddeus went with iced tea and a regular cheeseburger.

When they were alone again, Unity looked at him expectantly.

“What?” he asked. “I’m not going to start sharing random facts about myself. What do you want to know?”

“You said before you followed a girl to Las Vegas. And that you put yourself through school. Was this when you were doing construction? That must have been hard. And how did you get from that to investing?”

He’d wondered if the question would come up, although he hadn’t decided how he would answer it. Generally, he avoided the truth. People—women—frequently got the wrong impression.

No, he mentally amended. There was nothing wrong with their impression. It was their reaction he had trouble with.

Her eyes widened. “You’re not sure what to say. That means there’s a secret.”

“You sound happy about the possibility.”

“Sure. I don’t have any secrets. I never have. My life is pretty much what you see.” She leaned forward, her expression eager. “Tell me. Please? Tell me, tell me, tell me.”

Their server brought them their drinks. Unity ignored the massive chocolate shake in front of her, instead staring at him with both delight and intrigue—an irresistible combination that made him unable to deny her anything.

“I told you the girl I followed to Las Vegas was a dancer.”

She nodded eagerly.

“When we met, I didn’t know how to dance. Not beyond what you do in high school and at clubs. I really liked her and wanted to impress her, so I took lessons.”

“That’s so romantic. She must have been excited when you first took her out dancing.”

“She was, but the real surprise was that I had some ability. Dancing came easily to me.”

Unity dipped her spoon into her milkshake and tasted it. “No wonder Dagmar wants you to come and dance with her. Oh!” She stared at him. “Dagmar wanted to be a dancer when she was younger but her parents would have disapproved, so she became a librarian. You probably get your ability from her.”

“She told you about that?”

“Uh-huh.” Unity licked her spoon again, distracting him with the sight of her tongue. “Go on.”

It took him a second to remember where he’d been in the story. “When Amari and I moved to Las Vegas, she had a job in a big production show, but I couldn’t get work in construction. There weren’t any jobs and without a job, I couldn’t get into the union—”

Unity interrupted him with a sigh. “Amari? Is that her name? It’s beautiful. She was really pretty, huh?”

“Yes, she was.”

“That’s nice.”

It had been but right now he was more concerned about her lack of jealousy. If nothing else, Unity was doing an excellent job of keeping him humble.

“I was doing odd jobs when someone we knew mentioned open auditions for a show I could be in.”