I nodded.

He followed me to my car and gave me an extended glance over the top of it as I unlocked the doors. “How old are you?”

“Eighteen.” I unlocked the car and slid into the driver’s seat as he got in on the other side.

“Really? Wow. I thought you were older.”

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-four.”

I wouldn’t have guessed that. Maybe twenty. “You look young for twenty-four.” I smiled, giving him a quick sideways glance as I backed out of the parking space.

“Good thing this isn’t a date. I’d feel a little weird with you being eighteen.”

“I’m an adult,” I said my new and thoroughly recycled mantra.

We settled on a Mediterranean restaurant and a large booth near the open kitchen.

“We’re just a few blocks from my house. I’ve passed this place many times on my walks.”

“You live in this neighborhood?” He narrowed one eye. “With your parents? It’s just … a really nice neighborhood. I couldn’t afford to live here by myself or even with a houseful of roommates.”

I sipped my water then shook my head. “I live with my mom. And she rents the basement of a house. So I can’t afford to live here and neither could she if it weren’t a basement rental situation.”

“I see. Makes sense. So what are you doing this summer? Getting ready for college?”

“I’m taking a gap year.” There it was. My go-to. “But this summer, I’m working for a construction company doing random things in the office or delivering lunch to the crew.”

“Sounds…” he smirked “…fun.”

“It’s interesting. Fun? Probably not.”

“Do you like your boss?”

“What?” My head snapped up from the menu. “Why would you ask me that?”

“Uh …” His eyes rolled quickly to one side and then the other. “Just making conversation.”

I relaxed my defensive posture. “Sorry. Yeah. He’s nice. He’s actually my mom’s landlord. It’s his house. He lives on the main level. And he was kind enough to offer me a summer job.”

“That’s a cool situation.”

I nodded. It was cool. And sexy. And my newest obsession.

“So … what do you do?” I asked. “I assume since you’re twenty-four, you must be out of college, if you went.”

“I went.” He nodded while studying his menu. “I just graduated from law school, actually.”

“Can you be a lawyer at twenty-four?”

He laughed. “If you graduated high school a year early. Yes. You can.”

“Wow. Brainy.”

Brendon set his menu down and shook his head. I was pretty sure that was a blush on his face. “Good memory. That’s all.”

“Photographic?”