“I may be a little late.”
I just shake my head. She still doesn’t realize that I’ll wait for her as long as I have to. “I’ll come in for some apple pie.”
Finally, I get a smile. It’s no secret I love her pie.
Jane
“So how was work?” Dutton asks. He’s picked me up, just like he said he would. And I worked really hard to get out on time.
“Good. I worked with Alice, and since we weren’t that busy, she let me work in the kitchen most of the afternoon making desserts. And I saw Sam. I got him to eat, and he tried a few of my new recipes.”
“New recipes?” He interrupts. “I’d like to try some of your new recipes.”
I can’t keep the goofy smile off my face. “I thought you might. I brought you home one of each. A chess bar, an oatmeal raisin cookie, and a slice of blackberry pie.”
He rubs his big hand across his flat stomach. “Oh wow, I can’t wait. You’re going to make me fat, woman.”
I immediately jerk back. It’s probably the word fat. I’ve heard it all my life, and it’s an instinct I guess now, an automatic reaction at hearing it. I hate that word.
“What? What is it?” Dutton asks.
I shouldn’t be surprised that he notices. He seems to notice everything about me. “Nothing. It’s nothing.” And because I know him better now, I know he’s not going to let it go without me answering. “I just hate that word.”
His eyebrows dip over his nose. “What word?”
My nose scrunches up as if I hate even the taste of the word in my mouth. “Fat.”
He shakes his head. “I wasn’t…”
I laugh at the stricken look on his face. “I know. It’s my issue. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
He reaches across the console of the truck and holds my hand. “You’re beautiful, Jane.”
I’m not going to argue with him, so instead, I turn and watch out the window as the trees go by. Normally, I’d get completely lost in myself, but all I can think about is Dutton’s big hand wrapped around mine. It just feels right.
“My car,” I say, surprised. He had mentioned he was going to pick it up, and I completely forgot all about it.
“Yeah, I had a driver show up to get maintenance on one of my trucks so I had him help me get your car over here while the mechanic was working on it.”
“Well, I appreciate it. I bet you’re tired of driving me around.” I open the door and get out of the car. I’m happy my car is here, but of course I read too far into everything. Maybe he is sick of driving me around. Maybe I should go home.
He’s standing at the front of the car waiting for me. “I thought we’d make some popcorn and watch some TV. You up for that?”
I nod my head and start toward the house. “And hey, Jane,” I hear from behind me and I stop and turn around. He’s already right next to me.
“Yeah?”
“I have no problem driving you around. I like it, actually.”
He’s not smiling or making fun of my insecurities; he’s just putting it out there like we’re talking about the weather. “I’m going to wash some of this grease off,” I tell him and walk toward the opposite side of the house to the guestroom before he says anything else. It’s so easy to like Dutton Cole. Way too easy.
I shower quickly and meet him in the living room. He’s changed into a pair of shorts and a T-shirt, and he has a big bowl of popcorn with some sodas on the coffee table.
“What do you want to watch?”
“You pick.”
He shakes his head. “Nope. You choose either romance, action, comedy or thriller then I’ll pick a movie from that.”
“Comedy.”
He pulls up the remote and goes to an app and picks a recent comedy with one of my favorite actors in it. I sit back on the couch, and once he gets the movie going, he sits down right next to me.
He must feel me freeze next to him. “Is this too close?”
His thigh and leg are right against mine. I can feel the hair of his leg tickling my mine. Speechless, I just shake my head no and stuff some popcorn in my mouth.
The whole movie I sit next to him, waiting for a replay of last night. I want him to kiss me again, but the further we get into the movie, the more I come to realize that it’s likely not going to happen. I asked for it last night, but surely, I can’t ask again. I mean, if he wanted to kiss me, wouldn’t he just do it?
We talk through the movie. He tells me about the shop as he eats all three of the desserts I brought him home, moaning as he takes each bite. But still I wait in anticipation, hoping for him to hold my hand or something.