Kyle smiled when she offered to cook for him.<br/><br/>“I’d be happy to have someone else home cook for a change. And you don’t need to be a chef to impress me - as long as it’s edible, I’m in,” he said with a wink.<br/><br/>Kyle didn’t cook every night and he was getting sick of take out from the few places in the area that did deliver. It would be great to have a third option for dinner once in a while, he thought to himself. Kyle was about to say something when her next compliment threw him off track. He blinked for a moment as he absorbed her kind and thoughtful words before responding with an appreciative nod. Not sure what else to say, he offered a simple yet genuine reply.<br/><br/>“Thank you – that means a lot coming from you,” he said before taking another bite and continuing to listen. He couldn’t agree more to what she said about close friends sometimes becoming entangled when perhaps they shouldn’t. Still, though, he hoped that there might be another chance for them at some point. When she commented on his devotion cooking his smile lit up again.<br/><br/>“I know, I’m a bit obsessed about the cooking thing – I’ll admit. Mainly it’s because I don’t have much else to do in the evenings. Since I live and work in the same building I find I need a mental break in the evenings to keep from going… well… you know…” he said, avoiding the word ‘crazy’. He didn’t think Angie was crazy, but still he didn’t want to take a chance and perhaps bringing up a sensitive subject.<br/><br/>As they talked Kyle finished his serving and leaned back with a satisfied expression. “Dodn’t git any bett’r ‘an this,” he said in his poor excuse for a southern accent. He knew he wasn’t very good at it, but still he enjoyed trying to get a rise out of her. Even though the Civil War had ended more than 150 years ago, many northerners and southerners still enjoyed needling one another whenever they could.<br/><br/>“Everything I know about southern accents I learned from the Dukes of Hazard,” he explained. “All we need now is to stick a wheat stalk in my mouth and for you to put on some Daisy Dukes,” he joked, referring to the short cut-off jeans that character made famous in the old TV show.<br/><br/>Once she had a chance to reply to that idea, he waited patiently for her to also finish her main course. Afterwards he stood up to clear the plates.<br/><br/>“I’ll get rid of these and bring in the dessert,” he explained. “I hope you left room.”<br/><br/>A few minutes later he brought two plates of warm, homemade bread pudding a la mode. He dug right into his as soon as his napkin was on his lap.<br/><br/>“Mmmmm,” he said, complimenting his own work with a satisfied hum. “This is better than… well… you know…” he said, allowing his words to trail off with a wink.