Free Hungry for You by Lynsay Sands Page A

twist and asked, “Do you know anything about cars? ”
    “No. It is not my area of expertise,” he admitted apologetically. “But I have my rental car here and can take you where you wish to go.”
    Alex stared at him silently, debating the matter. She suspected most men would have wasted her time banging around under the hood, and then simply given her some spiel about not having the parts to fix it rather than admit they didn’t know how. She appreciated his honesty, but she’d just told him she didn’t have time for a man, and she didn’t. Would accepting his help now constitute using him? Would he expect somethingfrom her in return? Did she care? Frankly, Alex was so hungry she would start eating paint chips if she didn’t find some food.
    “No strings attached,” Cale added solemnly, and that was enough for her.
    “What the hell,” she muttered, grabbing her purse and quickly getting out of the car.
    They were both silent as they walked around the building. For her part, Alex was too tired to come up with anything to say. She wasn’t even considering what she was going to do about her car. She was simply concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other and not falling on her butt on the icy concrete. As for Cale, she had no idea why he was so silent.
    She’d half expected him to redouble his efforts to convince her to let him “get to know her.” However, he didn’t and was also silent as he ushered her to a Lexus parked on the street in front of her restaurant.
    Alex murmured her thanks as he opened the door and took her elbow to aid her in. He then closed the door for her before hurrying around to the driver’s side, and Alex wondered if good manners were a European thing. She had never had a Canadian man see her into a vehicle like she was spun glass that needed coddling.
    She quickly did up her seat belt, and then glanced to Cale as the driver’s side door opened. He got into the car on a cold breeze carrying a combination of citrus and a woodsy aroma she couldn’t identify. Toronto air had never smelled that good. Alex was pretty sure the scent was his, some designer aftershave she guessed, and found herself inhaling deeply with appreciation.
    “Where would you like to go?” Cale asked, starting the engine before doing up his own seat belt.
    Alex opened her mouth, and then hesitated about admitting she’d planned to hit a fast-food joint. He was a Parisian chef, for heaven’s sake, and would no doubt sneer at the thought of fast food. On the other hand, she wasn’t interested in him and shouldn’t care, Alex reminded herself and spat out the name with defiance.
    “And where is that?” Cale asked, not even arching a supercilious eyebrow at her choice.
    Alex found herself relaxing and gave the directions. It wasn’t far, and she hadn’t considered that it was past midnight, so was relieved to see that the restaurant had a twenty-four-hour drive-thru.
    It quickly became obvious Cale had never gone to a drive-thru before. Alex found herself biting her lip with amusement when he rolled the window all the way down and leaned half out of it to talk directly into the speaker. Her eyebrows rose with surprise, however, when he gave her order, hesitated, and then said, “Double everything please, it’s for two.”
    Alex now suspected she was going to have company for her meal. She’d been hoping he’d simply drive her back and drop her off with her booty, allowing her to get on with her business. But if he asked to join her to eat, it would really be rude to refuse after he’d taken her to the restaurant and back … and even paid for the food, she added with silent irritation when he waved away the money she offered to pay for both meals.
    Alex spent the ride back to the restaurant ignoring the scents emanating from the bag on her lap andconcentrating on figuring out the best way to get rid of Cale once they were done eating. A polite, “Well, I have to get back to work now, so