She opens her mouth, and I feed it to her. There’s something intimate and sexy about it, and it makes me think of our kiss once again.
“Wow, that’s actually really good.”
I grin at her. “I’m glad you like it.”
We eat in silence for a while, but it’s not uncomfortable. I like the way we can just sit together and feel each other’s presence. It’s nice being with her.
“Tomorrow is your day off. What are your plans?” I ask.
“I’m going to Ellie’s to quilt again.”
I slowly nod. “All day?”
She sighs. “Yes. We got a lot done on Wednesday, but there’s still quite a few quilts that need finishing.”
“I see.” Disappointment flows through me, but I try not to let it show. I once again remind myself she’s my employee. We’re just friends. That’s all.
After our meal, we pick up Skyler from Josephine’s house. Skyler runs to me and hugs my legs. “Daddy! We made ice cream, and we watched a dog movie!”
Josephine laughs. “101 Dalmatians. She loved it.”
I crouch down and hug Skyler before she wiggles away from me and goes to Kiki. I stand up and turn to Josephine. “Thanks for watching her.”
She pats my hand. “Did you have a nice time together?”
Kiki smiles. “We did.”
Skyler tells us all about her day as I drive us home. Then we wrangle her into her pajamas and tuck her in bed. I kiss her forehead and turn off the light.
Kiki goes out to the car to get our things we purchased, and I help her bring them in. She takes her clothes upstairs while I getthe craft supplies out, putting them on the kitchen counter. Kiki walks in and picks up one of the containers of sand.
“Do you want help putting those together?” I motion to the seashells and ribbon.
“Sure. Thanks.”
I grab a glass cylinder vase and hold it out so Kiki can pour in the sand. We work together, putting in the seashells and the little white tea lights that Kiki picked out. She cuts a length of ribbon and hands it to me. I stare down at it. “Uh, I don’t think I can tie a nice bow like you.”
“Nonsense. It’s easy. Here. I’ll show you.” She moves close to me, taking some ribbon and wrapping it around one of the vases. “Just tie it like this.”
Her fingers fly over it so quickly I can’t see what she’s doing. But when she’s done, she has a perfect bow. I try to duplicate what I saw her do, but my fingers get all tangled in the ribbon, and it doesn’t tie right in the end.
She giggles at me. “No, like this.”
Her fingers slide under mine as she takes hold of the ribbon. I’m too stunned to move, the electric current running between our fingers making my pulse race. I pull back, letting her tie the ribbon again, slower this time. She looks up at me, her face just inches from mine. “Did you get it?”
My brain tries to process what she said, but all I can think about is sliding my hands around her waist and pulling her to me. I mentally slap myself. Hands off. Remember?
“I think so,” I lie. I try once more, and by some miracle, I actually tie a bow. It’s lopsided and funny looking, but it’s a bow.
She smiles at me as she fixes it. “Nice.”
I take a step back from her. “Maybe you should do the rest.”
She laughs but doesn’t argue with me. After all the bows are tied, she turns. “Thank you for your help. And for…” Shestops and her gaze travels over my features, landing on my lips. “Everything,” she whispers.
I want to kiss her so badly I can already feel her lips on mine, but I can’t. I don’t want to break her trust. I don’t want to push past that imaginary line she’s drawn, so I back away from her.
“I should go.” I turn and walk out of the kitchen before I do something I’ll regret.
