The next time Gavin appeared in the doorway of his office, Liam was looking at him with different eyes. Or at least he tried to, since Gavin hadn't come empty-handed, and all the blond could muster as he set the cappuccino and blueberry muffin in front of him was a quiet, "Thank you."

"I wasn't sure if you liked muffins, but since you like sweet things, I took it as a safe bet," the tall man commented as he took a seat across from him.

"I like sweet things?" Liam repeated in surprise. Not that the statement wasn’t true, but he had no idea how Gavin knew that.

"You put tons of sugar in your coffee. And when we met at the store you had candy in your basket. Not to mention how you like love, and love is sweet," he replied.

Liam had no idea that the man in front of him was noticing such details as the contents of someone’s shopping basket. He was especially taken aback when he remembered Benny’s words about how Gavin didn’t try. It almost sounded like Gavin had tried harder in the blond’s presence than he had on a date with someone else.

Before Liam could lose himself in those thoughts and slip into the unprofessional, he cleared his throat and returned to the conversation. "Love comes in all flavors," he corrected, but reached for his coffee cup and took a sip anyway. He had no idea where Gavin got the coffee from, but for the second time it tasted better than the one Liam usually bought.

"Well, I definitely know when it tastes salty." By the sheer size of Gavin's smile, it was immediately clear what he was referring to.

The blond rolled his eyes. "I’d say the salty flavor of love is tears," he replied, despite the fact that this conversation was far from serious or philosophical.

"I’d say more like tears are bitter in this case, and the salty flavor stays for the bedroom," Gavin countered, seeming to give the subject some real thought. "It makes sense, because when you break up with someone, but it’s for a good reason, it’s bittersweet."

Liam was taken aback and didn’t even try to wipe the reaction off his face. And like he always had before, the tanned man seemed pleased that it was him who made him lose his professional face.

"That leaves sour," the blond eventually said, wanting to know what the man across from him had to say about it.

Gavin tilted his head, and again seemed to think more about his answer instead of saying the first thing that came to mind. Liam’s blue eyes watched him closely, waiting.

"When things go sour, it means trouble, right? So sour is trouble. Sometimes it doesn't have to be completely bad, in which case it’s sweet and sour," he explained, adding a smile to his answer when their gazes met.

Liam shook his head, unable to stop the amusement from bubbling to the surface, and laughed briefly.

"Are you seriously laughing at the trouble in love?" Gavin asked.

At his question, the blond couldn’t take it anymore and laughed out loud, covering his mouth with his hand to hide his laughter. "I’m laughing because you compared love to sauce," he revealed between laughs.

The tall man watched him with a smile, and even though Liam contradicted him, he didn’t try to defend his opinion. Compared to their earlier meetings, the atmosphere between them was now pleasant—almost friendly. Liam had almost forgotten that Gavin hadn’t come here to philosophize about love.

"What was the worst trait this time?" he asked once he finally stopped laughing, though the smile stayed on his face. There was still a trace of humor in his voice, which made the question sound less serious than he intended.

"She was still attached to her ex," Gavin answered without hesitation. "She even compared me to him a couple of times." 

"Does she have a name?" Liam asked.

"Lucy," the tanned man revealed.

"Let me guess—she was hot?" Instead of his usual search for the root of the problem, Liam took a different approach. Maybe it was the relaxed atmosphere, or maybe he just wanted to enjoy his coffee in peace without taking the long route to the same answer.

"Did we already have this conversation?" Gavin sounded more amused than confused.

"A hundred times," Liam nodded, exaggerating.

"Are you going to tell me again that I'm to blame?" the tanned man asked, folding his arms across his chest. He'd been slowly sipping his coffee until now, but he let it sit on the desk and leaned back in his chair. His brown eyes fixed on Liam.

"Depends," the blond said, continuing his different approach than usual. "Did you take her to dinner? Same date as always?"

"You think I take all my dates to the same place?" Gavin raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"You've talked about dinner a few times. You open the door for them, pay for the food..." Liam pointed out.

"Usually." The tall man nodded. "It's hard to plan the perfect date with someone you barely know. Dinner is a safe bet."

"What about the movies? Coffee? Bowling?" Liam listed off various other options.

"You can't talk in a movie theater. You spontaneously invite someone you meet at that moment to go for coffee. Bowling is considered cheap by some, not to mention that many people are embarrassed to play it, and then it's awkward." As with his clients, Gavin found a flaw in all his ideas.

"Maybe you're not asking the right questions when you're texting people." The blond wasn't giving up.

"Trust me, I do. I ask about hobbies or where they like to go, and their answers don't give me anything I can work with. Just because someone tells me they like to travel doesn't mean I'm going to immediately buy plane tickets to Spain," Gavin said

"Humor me, then." Liam got an idea, and before he could overthink it, he blurted out, "Pretend I'm one of your potential dates. You've known me for more than a week—would you take me to dinner too?"

Another wide grin appeared on the face of the man across from him, and Liam expected him to mock him and say something stupid, but surprisingly, he decided to comply with Liam's request. "Honestly? No. If it were you, I'd have a better idea."

"Where would you take me?" Liam asked curiously, a genuine interest creeping into his voice that had no business being there.

"To my house," Gavin said, and the blond gave him a look that clearly showed he wasn't impressed.

"Not for the reason you think," the tall man assured him immediately. "Dirty mind." He shook his head.

Against his will, Liam's cheeks took on a tinge of red. Thankfully, Gavin didn't expect him to answer and continued, "I'd cook and we'd watch TV together. Kind of like a Netflix-and-chill date, but with a twist. I'd turn on some dating reality show, test your matchmaker skills."

"That's actually..." Liam was genuinely surprised. He had no idea what he was expecting, but it certainly wasn’t this. Honestly, it almost sounded like something he could imagine.

"Did I impress you?" Gavin seemed pleased by his reaction.

"Impressed is a strong word," the blond replied without hesitation, but then added, "I think it would be interesting. We could make a bet out of it. You with your realistic outlook and me with my optimistic one."

"What would the winner get?" the tanned man asked, and it was almost starting to sound like their conversation was real, not just hypothetical.

"I don't know." Liam shrugged, though his mind began to conjure up all sorts of ideas that certainly weren’t appropriate on the job, much less when it came to a client.

His conscience echoed, and the smile faded from his face at that moment. Instead, he cleared his throat and, with a neutral expression, decided to redirect the conversation in the right direction. "But it's proof that you can be original. Maybe you should take advantage of that when you pick your next date."

At his words, the smile disappeared from the face of the man across from him as well, but Liam decided not to dwell on it too much. He'd already crossed enough boundaries with his question.

"I'll think about it," Gavin replied vaguely.

"Good." Liam nodded.

The conversation between the two of them suddenly began to fall flat, and it didn’t take long for Gavin to stand up, saying that he’d actually gotten all the advice he needed, and walk away.

Liam’s blue eyes were fixed on his office door for a long time afterwards. And it wasn’t just his eyes that kept returning to the tall man.