“Yes, well. Clearly, there will be no romantic entanglement between us now.”

“Of course.” The relief I hear in his voice stings, but I brush it off because he’s right. “We can still enjoy our dinner though.”

He nods in a stilted way that makes me think he’d rather just end dinner now.

“So, are you a divorce attorney like my brother?”

He sips his drink. “I’m a litigation lawyer at Simons, Berns & Scofield. We mostly deal with large corporations and enforcing the contracts they have in place.”

“Okay… so what is it you actually do?”

His nostrils flare and he sort of huffs as if my question is annoying. “Think of it this way. If someone breaks part of a contract, or if there’s a dispute over the terms of a contract, our clients come to us to get us to try to enforce the contract. It could be that someone is in breach of a business deal, someone is suing a company for something, maybe a CEO was terminated and contesting the directive of the contract they signed in such an event. It never ceases to amaze me the number of reasons people can get in conflict with one another.”

I nod. “Sounds interesting,” I say, not because I actually think it does but because I’m a polite person. Sitting behind a desk and staring at legalese all day sounds miserable to me.

“It can be. I prefer the days I’m in court over the days I’m poring over contracts to find one loophole I can use for my client’s benefit.”

“Is that because you’re argumentative?” The words leave my mouth before I think better of them.

He tilts his head. “Argumentative?”

“Not in a bad way. The impression I get is you’d do well arguing your point in front of other people. Maybe argumentative is the wrong word.”

He frowns. “Perhaps. I’ve never given it much thought.”

We sit in silence for a beat, because I insulted him, but he hasn’t been all warm and fuzzy to me so far. “I’m going to use the restroom.”

I push my chair back and cringe when all the bells on my costume ring. It’s worse when I walk to the restroom. Although I stand by my decision to not be late, I’m slightly embarrassed now, which I think is more due to Andrew’s reaction than my own. Tessa’s going to get a kick outta this one.

After I return to the table, purposely ignoring the way all the other diners glare at me, I retake my seat. My meal is waiting for me while Andrew has started eating his. And he’s getting on me for an elf costume? It’s common etiquette to wait for your date to return before you eat.

Rather than say anything, I smile as I take my seat. “How’s the salmon?”