“I’ll be the judge of that.” I dip my fork and cut off a large piece from the side, and then bring it to my mouth, which waters. “Oh God,” I awkwardly moan as I chew. “Wow . . . okay . . . wow, this is . . .”
“Phenomenal,” he says while taking his own bite.
“Yup, that would be correct. This is phenomenal. Mmm.” I lift another piece. “Is it weird to say I love you right now?”
“After the meal we just suffered through? No. Eat up, babe. This will make up for all those chewy dumplings you just consumed.”
“They were quite chewy, weren’t they? Not this, though, this is like a sugar cloud in my mouth.”
“Sugar cloud, huh?” he asks.
“Yup. Seriously, this is amazing. How did you find it?”
“Trial and error. I like to find something special in every city I go to so if someone asks me what they should try, I can give them something good to get. This is on my list. It’s a must-have when you come here.”
“Do you have a list of these places?”
He nods, to my surprise. “I keep notes in my phone.”
“Really?” I ask. “That doesn’t seem like something you’d do.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t know.” I take another bite. “Your attitude comes across as too cool, too accomplished, to do something like taking notes in your phone of good food places. I’d never have guessed that.”
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, Kelsey. That’s just one thing.”
“Apparently. What else are you hiding?”
“You’ll see,” he answers.
“Does this have anything to do with where we’re going?”
“Yup.” He wiggles his brows and takes another bite. “And when you compare our nights out, I don’t think the main course should be taken into consideration. We had a shit dinner because of you.”
I chuckle. “That’s fair, the main course was on me. But this dessert, I don’t know. Not sure if it beats the sundae at Ghirardelli.”
“Fuck off, it easily does.”
That makes me laugh hard. “Protective much?”
“Yes, because they sell the damn products in the store so you can make your own Ghirardelli sundae at home—”
“They don’t sell the atmosphere, though, and that makes it taste better.”
“You make no sense,” JP informs me, and I laugh some more. He points his fork at the cake. “Now, as for this cake, you can try to make it, but I guarantee, it won’t taste anything like this, even if you ask for the recipe. They actually have a recipe book you can buy. But it still won’t taste the same. This cake takes years to refine, and that, you need to appreciate.”
“But we’re eating it in the back of a Tesla. Not sure about the ambiance.”
He scowls at me. “If anything, you should appreciate the atmosphere more because we’re eating in an electric car, driving around like goddamn earth liberators. If you’re really lucky, I’ll give you this box when we’re done so you can recycle it.”
“Wow, you really know the key to a woman’s heart.”
“See . . . better. You even admit it yourself—I’m unlocking your heart.”
I roll my eyes. “I was being sarcastic.”
“And I choose not to take it that way.” He smirks.
“Do you always have to be right?”
“Yes. Glad you’re finally seeing that.”
I open my water and say, “Does this place we’re going to have alcohol? Because I’ll need it if I’m sticking around with you for the rest of the night.”
“There’s alcohol. Trust me, I wouldn’t leave myself stranded and alone with you without it.”
My lips flatten and he chuckles. “You’re such an ass,” I grumble.
“I know, babe.” He winks. “But admit it, you like it.”
“I don’t.”
He tips my chin up with his finger and whispers, “Liar.”
Eh . . . he very well might be right about everything, because even though he does drive me nuts, I sort of like it. I fall in line with his teasing and . . . Oh God . . . am I starting to crave it?
No, that couldn’t possibly be true, right?
He dips his fork into the cake and takes another bite, his eyes on me the entire time.
Huh . . . maybe I am.
“What are you doing?” JP asks, tugging my arm.
“Sending my sister a pin location of where I am.”