She loved to talk about data. Her eyes lit up when she started talking about how she could use the data to predict what to purchase, how many people to staff on any particular night, what to invest in. She got so animated when she discussed the business.

“Are you saying you’re done for the night? It’s barely midnight,” she pointed out.

He’d found things that would keep him busy long after she’d gone to bed. He wasn’t going to do that tonight. They were on a deadline and she could be far from him a week from now. “I thought we could talk.”

Her brows went up in surprise, but she seemed to go with it. “About what? About the fact that Zep flirted with my senior citizens? I went out with dessert and he was letting those sweet old ladies pat his abs. I swear I expect to find him stripping for cash one day. He’s incorrigible.”

Remy couldn’t help but laugh. “I’ll talk to him about that.”

She shook her head. “Don’t. We’ve already got three new reviews on Yelp about how amazing our service is. And a poor review about how that young whippersnapper of a waiter should keep his clothes on. I expect the reservations for girls’ night out to start flowing right on in.”

If only his pop-pop could see them now. “I’ll count on it.”

“Are we staying here? Or moving into the house? Seraphina was asking about it. She said Chartier House is nice and has several bedrooms.”

Well, that was one reason he hadn’t moved her in. “I thought it was easier staying here in the beginning, but obviously if you don’t want to share a room with me, I’ll make arrangements.”

Her eyes shifted away. “That’s not it. I don’t mind. Honestly, I was wondering if you were the one who doesn’t want to share a room with me.”

“Why would you say that?”

“Remy, you avoid me every night around bedtime. I thought we’d kind of agreed to be friends.”

Friends. He wanted more than that. “Yes, that’s why I’ve avoided you.”

Her lips curled up in a slight smile. “Is there a reason we can’t be friends with benefits?”

Because I need more than that. “You want to have sex?”

She sighed. “I wouldn’t hate it. The way I look at it, we’re not in such a different place than we were before. We know this won’t go on forever. We can be friendly and if we consent, sure, why not have sex?”

Because I want to make love to you. She didn’t want to hear that from him so he moved on to something she needed to hear. “I talked to Maia Brighton earlier today.”

He hated how tense her body got.