“Yup. One of my many, manytalents.” I shrug.
“So modest.” she deadpans.
I laugh, stirring the eggs. “Modesty is overrated. I prefer honesty.”
“Okay then, honest man,” she challenges, stepping closer. “Why are you really helping me? And don’t say it’s because your brother clogged the pipes with donut batter.”
I pause, pepper grinder hovering mid-air in my hand. There’s every chance to make a joke here, to dodge, to slide past the real thing. I consider deflecting, but something about the directness of her question demands truth.
“Because I can’t stop thinking about you,” I say, quiet but certain.
“And because—hell if I know why—for some crazy reason, the universe keeps putting us in each other’s way.”
Her eyes go wide. The bluntness of my answer catching her off guard. Her expression flickers. Surprise. Confusion. Something deeper cross her features. Her lips part slightly like she’s about to say something, but no words come out.
I watch her, pulse kicking harder in my chest than I’d like to admit. “Too honest?” I ask, voice low.
She shakes her head slowly, still staring at me. “No,” she whispers. “Just... not what I expected.”
“Yeah,” I murmur, watching her right back. “Me neither.”
“I've been replaying that kiss since it happened, you know.” I continue, turning the heat down on the stove. “I want to know what that meant.”
“It was just a kiss,” she says, but her voice lacks conviction.
I move toward her, close enough that I can see the flecks of green in her blue eyes. “We both know that's not true, darlin’.”
Her breath catches. “Grant—”
“Tell me you haven't thought about it too,” I challenge, my voice dropping lower.
Her eyes darken. “That's not the point.”
Moving in closer, I reach out, touching a strand of hair that's fallen from her messy bun. “That's exactly the point. There's something here, Mia. Something real.” I know I might be pushing too hard, but Ineedher to admit this charge between us.
“I'm leaving, as soon as I get my travel arrangements sorted out,” she reminds me, though she doesn't pull away from my touch.
“All the more reason not to waste time pretending.”I run my finger down her cheek, slow and deliberate, watching the goosebumps rise like I’m writing a dirty sonnet on her skin. Her eyes go soft, her lips part like she’s ready to let me in—body and soul—and fuck, if she knew what kind of thoughts I’m barely keeping on a leash, she’d either slap me or pull me in.
“Seize the day, Mia.” My voice drops, gravel and need. “If I had my way, I’d already be inside you. Not standing here with black pepper and a goddamn hard-on.”
Her eyes widen, that flustered spark flashing across her face like I just rewired her brain. But before she can even fire back—
Her nose twitches.
Wrinkles.
Eyes squeeze shut.
And then—
“HahTSCHHuh!—ahhhhhh—TSCHHHUH!—AHH-huhhh—TSCHhhhuhhh!”
What. The. Actual. Fuck.
Each sneeze sounds disturbingly like a moan, high-pitched the beginnings of a chain reaction that sounds almost orgasmic.
They don’t sound sick. No. They sound...sinfuland weirdly...hot. Like,porn sound effecthot. Like she’s mid-orgasm and forgot we’re in the kitchen and not some damn romance audiobook.
