"I should stay with you," I repeated dumbly.
"Yes," she said, stronger than before. "You should stay with me." She didn't look any more certain about the idea than she had the first time she said it, but knowing her, now that it was out, the last thing she would do was back down from her own suggestion. "I don't mean . . . permanently, just, you know, sometimes."
Oh. I couldn't help but smirk. "I see. So you're not asking me out, you're propositioning me, is that right?"
"No!"
"Then you're trying to take advantage of me again?"
"Advantage?" she all but shouted. She suddenly seemed to remember that we were technically in a public space, or perhaps that Fred wasn't far away, because she glanced around the shop quickly before leaning over the counter to hiss at me, "The way I remember it, you offered."
I held my hands up in surrender. "So I did." She straightened and took a deep breath, but her face was red and she would not meet my eyes. "Besides," I said, "there's nothing wrong with wanting a little advantage now and then."
Finally she did meet my gaze, and I gave her a thin smile. "No," she said, "there's not."
"I need you to do something for me first."
She'd known me long enough to instantly take on a suspicious glare at that kind of request. "What?" she asked, again flicking her eyes around the room.
"Oh, it's nothing dangerous. Then again, Angelina's never been known for her cooking skills, so it might be."
Her face scrunched in confusion. "What?"
"Have lunch with me. Angelina's bringing us food any minute now, and I'd rather not have to sit and watch them," I jerked my thumb over my shoulder at the office door, "go at it while I'm trying to eat. You can distract me so I don't toss it all up."
"Wow, George, you really know how to flatter a girl."
"I'm not trying to be flattering. I'm trying to give you the advantage." I raised my eyebrows and gave her my best pointed look.
"Yeah?" she asked, a smile threatening the corners of her mouth.
"Yeah. You should stay."