“Nope,” Andra said, distracted by the growl of her stomach. The bright taste of lemon had awakened her whole mouth, and she suddenly realized she was hungry.

He snorted and opened the door. “Great. Can I borrow your Ferrari next time I need to make a run to town?”

His teasing distracted her so she was inside with her eyes adjusting to the lower light before she thought to pause. “Wait, is this your apartment?” She’d asked Jason to get LJ settled on-site, so she knew he lived in one of the units. Why would he bring her to his place?

“Home sweet home.” LJ laughed as if it were a joke.

Andra tugged at the end of her ponytail, thinking about how long it’d been since she’d been in a man’s apartment. The walls in the employee housing were so thin Curt couldn’t watch Jeopardy! without Stacia calling out the answers. They were far from alone, and even if they had been, she had the feeling LJ wasn’t the type to try anything. She kind of liked the way he joked with her. The way the news of her past had made him sad, but he’d still treated her like any other woman.

“Here you go.” LJ interrupted her thoughts by dropping a paper grocery sack in her arms.

She caught the sides and frowned down into it before sending a quizzical look at her companion. He was already crouched in front of the refrigerator, pulling things off shelves and out of drawers, muttering to himself.

He stood up and dumped a load of vegetables into her sack. Kicking the fridge closed, he opened a cupboard. Jason’s apartment always reeked of sweat and muddy boots, but LJ’s smelled like oranges and oven-warmed vanilla.

Andra set the sack down on the tiny rectangular table pushed up against the wall. It wobbled when she bumped it, one leg a hair shorter than the others.

“Okay.” She shook her head. “Seriously, what does your phone ringing have to do with why we are so urgently raiding your vegetable drawer?”

“Because cake isn’t a square meal, and I can’t in good conscience leave you alone to starve on pickles and orange juice. The vegetables are for spaghetti.” He went back to the cupboard and pulled out a box of pasta, flipping it to her without looking to see if she was ready.

She caught it with both hands and paused for a second before she packed it in the grocery sack.