Let Them Talk

Connor immediately moved to the other side of the kitchen counter. It didn’t help that he suddenly had a craving for chocolate. His skin heated at the memory of the chocolate Laura had made. It hadn’t been good. It had been grainy and had had a bitter aftertaste, but he didn’t care. He would have gladly spread it all over her body and licked it off her skin.

“The muffins burned,” Laura admitted. “Charred to a crisp. Although I take it as progress that the smoke alarm didn’t go off.”

“That is an improvement, and just in time,” he said with a smile. “I won’t be able to run over every time it goes off anymore and you’re too short to reach it.”

“I’ll think of something.” She motioned at the basket. “Go on and eat. Don’t worry, I didn’t make any of this. It all came from the diner this morning.”

When he pulled out the disposable cup from the basket, he decided to find a safe topic. “I’m sure you’re not as bad of a cook as you claim. You could follow a recipe if you wanted to.”

“My skills are very basic,” she admitted as she took a zucchini muffin from the basket. “I know enough that I won’t starve.”

His gaze rested on her full breasts and whittled waist. She was strong, honest and beautiful. Connor looked away. “Isn’t your mom a legendary cook in these parts? Didn’t she train you?”

“That’s what everyone expects. My sisters have followed in her footsteps but I just wasn’t interested. It wasn’t my thing.”

“You sure that’s all there was to it?” he asked as he poured a cup of coffee. “You’re not one to do what is expected.”

She glanced up at him. Connor realized he’d struck a nerve. He understood her very well. He liked the fact that he knew so much about her but still found something new and fascinating about her every time they talked. And she understood him just the same.

“There is a certain expectation when you’re a Dawson,” she reluctantly admitted as she refused a cup of coffee and peeled the paper from the muffin. “My sisters love to cook and bake. And it doesn’t end there. My mother’s home isn’t just an interest, it’s an obsession. My siblings found their own interests and strengths very early. I couldn’t compete.”

“So you took yourself out of the game.”

She nodded. “I still haven’t discovered what I’m good at, but I will one day. And then I will be able to control how people label me.”

“Until then, everyone will think of you as the black sheep of the family.” He wondered how people had labeled him. No one had really been able to get to know him or his family because they’d kept moving around. They had been strangers and no one had dug any deeper.

“At least I’m noticed,” Laura said. “Before that I was lost in the shuffle with my sisters and cousins.”

He drank his coffee and he considered Laura’s words. Her comment made sense to him. Laura wanted to be special. And he wanted to show her that she already was. He wanted her to know that every moment of the day.

“Although,” she continued, “these days people call me the ‘the naughty one’ or ‘the one who makes trouble.’ The labels stick even though I’m not trying to be a troublemaker. Like when I had a wardrobe malfunction at prom.” She shook her head. “That was an accident but no one believed me.”

“What nicknames do your sisters have?”

She nibbled at the muffin as she started to list the labels, “The smart one, the pretty one, the athletic one, the creative one...and then there’s me. I used to be the other one.”

“How long did it take you to realize that you were just as smart and pretty and athletic and creative as your sisters?”

“A while.” Her gaze softened and a shy smile played on her mouth. He was surprised that a blush streaked her cheekbones. He couldn’t look away. “What do you think my label should be?” she asked.

“No way,” he said as he took a step back. “I’m not going near that one.”

She leaned forward, resting her elbows on the counter. “Come on, you know me better than anyone in town. Which one would I be?”

The seductive one. The loving one. The one.

Hell, no. His train of thought came to a screeching halt. He tried to banish the idea from his mind. Laura Dawson wasn’t right for him. She wasn’t ready to commit, and he wasn’t going to fall for a woman who could so easily walk away from him.

Laura tilted her head as she watched him. “What are you thinking?”