“A chardonnay for me, please,” Annika said.

“I’ll have the same,” Alesandro added.

“Of course. I’ll be right back with those.”

“So.” Annika smiled resolutely. She was going to give this a fair shake, dammit. “Did you … have a good day at work? June tells me you own a bakery?”

“I do.” Alesandro nodded several times, as if Annika had said something fascinating. “We specialize in traditional Greek desserts. Our baklavas were featured in the city paper recently. We got five omelets.” Seeing Annika’s confusion, he added, “That’s their rating system—omelets instead of stars.”

They laughed, and Annika couldn’t help but realize Alesandro had a very warm smile. “Well, that’s fantastic,” she said. “Congratulations.”

The waitress returned with their wine in miniature wooden wine barrels that had the Neon logo stamped on the side. Alesandro swirled his around and smelled it before taking a small sip.

“Are you ready to order?” the waitress asked, pulling a notebook from the pocket of her sleek black leather apron.

Annika’s stomach rumbled again at the mention of food. “Yes. I’ll have the large tofu bowl with tahini dressing.”

The waitress turned to Alesandro, who was closing his menu. “I’ll have the pasta carbonara with a basket of breadsticks and a side of fresh fruit. And could you please bring me the brownie sundae for dessert as well?”

“Coming right up.” Smiling, the waitress took their menus and walked off.

Alesandro turned to Annika. “I’m carb-loading for the marathon I’m running tomorrow.”

“Oh, you’re a marathon runner!” Annika exclaimed. “That explains your—” A warmth crept to her cheeks. What she’d been about to say made her sound like a total perv. “Your, um, physique.”

Alesandro beamed, as if he was pleased and not at all weirded out that she’d noticed and commented on his body. “Yes,” he said, smiling gaily. “I’m definitely built like a runner. What about you? Do you run?”

Annika laughed. “Oh, no. I tried it once and couldn’t take the feeling of my lungs about to explode. I do yoga, actually.”

“Ah. Yoga.” Alesandro closed his eyes for a moment, as if taking a moment to appreciate yoga in all its nuances. When he opened them again, he added, “I love yoga. I do it every morning on my balcony.”

“Oh.” Annika smiled. In her experience, most men had a pretty condescending view of yoga, or only did it under duress. Like Hudson. “I do too, actually.”

They smiled at each other for a moment, and then Alesandro asked, “So, tell me. I hear you’re a business owner yourself. How’s that going?”