Page 30 of Tasty Cherry

Maybe it’s obvious I’m waiting for someone else.

I’m not even clear on what I want to happen.

I can’t take this intern opportunity away from Mila. But I don’t know her very well. Maybe she’s an over-sharer. Maybe she’ll tell her coworkers about us.

Probably not. She seemed very anxious that Ilsa was watching us. She’ll be discreet.

A thrill zips through me. Discreet enough that we can keep seeing each other?

Then she’s here. I jump up. “Mila!”

She slides into a chair. “Sebastian.”

At least she’s not calling me Mr. Young.

Although imagining her saying it wearing nothing but her employee badge gets me thinking about our night together.

I’m completely out of control here. Something about her is my kryptonite.

As I sit back down, Bethany returns with a second glass of water. “Ready for menus? Something else to drink?”

“Can you do dinner?” I ask Mila. I can’t take anything for granted.

She glances around. “Should we?”

Bethany’s eyebrows lift. Yeah. This sounds sordid.

“She’s in the middle of unpacking,” I tell Bethany. “She just moved to Boulder.”

“Well, welcome,” Bethany says. “I’ll bring some menus.”

Mila doesn’t argue and hangs her purse on her chair. She’s staying.

“You find it all right?” I ask.

“Not a problem.” She glances out the window at the neon yellow sign for Smiley’s bar. “I guess we were meeting about this time last night.”

I clink my water glass against hers. “Here’s to our twenty-four-hour anniversary.”

She smiles at that, and I sit back in my chair. This is going to be fine.

But then she surprises me. “Are you going to ask me to leave the intern program?”

I shoot forward against the edge of the table. “No! Of course not!”

Bethany appears again to set the menus down, so I wait until she’s gone to finish. “That’s what we’re here to figure out.”

Mila fiddles with the corner of the menu. “Okay.”

“There is a fraternization clause.”

She doesn’t meet my gaze. “I saw it. No more than one level separating us on the chain of command.”

“Yeah. You can date other interns. And you could date other full-time base-level employees. But not any supervisors.”

“And certainly not the general manager.” She flattens her hand on the menu, as if she’s trying to stop fidgeting.

I want to reach across the table and take her fingers in mine, but I know I can’t. We’re miles from that.