He lifted oneshoulder and stepped closer. “I don’t know. I can’t pinpoint one exact moment,only that my interest marinated slowly until I saw you in the kitchen withWyatt before the engagement party. I hated myself for letting other people’spotential opinions get in the way. I hated Wyatt for making you smile andlaugh, and for inviting you into my space. I hated you for not seeming tonotice me or be able to tolerate me. From that moment, it was my mission to getyour attention, to get you to notice me.” He smiled that gentle, unassumingsmile again, the one that made me all melty inside. “Although I’m not sure how wellit worked. I used Meg to try to impress you, but you had the party handledwithout her. I tried to wow you with my wine cellar. You weren’t interested. Ishowed you my car. Again, you didn’t care. I’ve about exhausted my resources,Maverick. And I think you’ve given me a complex.”
Well, I just died.I was dead. This had to be death. Because Ezra could not have said what he justdid. “I was already impressed by you! That’s why I didn’t react to anythingelse. Did you not notice I was a basket case around you? And I assumed you werejust showing off to be a douche!”
The high planes ofhis cheeks heated and his smile was both embarrassed and adorable. “That doesnot bode well for my reputation.”
I laughed, andmaybe it was a little hysterical, but he was talking crazy and my rational mindcould not wrap around the words that he was speaking. “It worked,” I promisedhim. “Whatever you did, worked.”
Something clatteredin the kitchen, jolting us with the violence of it. He groaned and dropped hisforehead to mine. “That sounded expensive. I should probably go check on it.”
Holding back asmile, I told him, “Go. But don’t terrorize them too much.”
Standing up to hisfull height he asked, “Do you have everything you need? Can I get yousomething?”
A curling fear ofdread interrupted the most exciting forty-five minutes of my dating life and Inearly winced from the sharpness of it. “Was hiring me to do this mural part ofyour seduction?”
He shook hishead—it looked like he was trying to recover from my conversational whiplash.“What?”
“Did you only hireme to do this job because you want to get in my pants?”
A slow, promisingsmirk lifted one corner of his mouth. If I hadn’t been so panicked, I wouldhave spontaneously combusted from it.
“Is getting in yourpants an option?” he asked.
“That absolutelydepends on your answer,” I countered. “And I’ll be able to tell if you’relying.” He raised one eyebrow. “You’re very transparent,” I explained. Whichwasn’t at all true, but it was better to let him think I had the upper hand.Maybe then he would believe it.
“The mural hadnothing to do with us,” he answered sincerely. “And everything to do with yourtalent. I’m definitely interested in you, Molly, but I’m also a businessman. Iwouldn’t have hired you to change the entire interior of my strugglingrestaurant if I didn’t think you would be able to make a seriously positivechange.”
My fears abated andI sucked in a steadying breath. “Sorry, I freaked out at you. I just didn’twant this to be a pity painting.”
His lips twitchedat my description. “It’s anything but. I’m anxious to see what you come upwith.”
“What about themarketing account?” I demanded, half hoping he would tell me that was just aploy to spend more time with me and that I sucked at design. Because then Iwould have a reason to quit STS and start over. I could pursue painting orbasket weaving or beekeeping. Anything would be better than working with Henryat this point.
My argument wasfoolproof. Foolproof-ish.
“Again, Molly, I’mworried you don’t see how talented you are. Since I’ve hired you, I’ve learnedmore about the ins and outs of advertising than the last firm taught me in theentire three years I employed them. You know your stuff. I’m truly lucky tohave you working for the restaurants.”
That was not theanswer I was looking for, because it was leagues better. Those weren’t the kindof criticisms that ended careers, those were the kinds of compliments thatreignited the deep and abiding love for my job.
I hated thepolitics of STS and my bosses, and okay, fine, my clients too. But I loved thedesign part of it. I loved that creating graphics was the opposite of painting,and that was okay, because I enjoyed the details and the hours of perfecting ameaningful project. I hated the company I worked for, but damn I loved thegrind.
Which probably mademeinsanedifferent than the rest of the world.
“Fine,” I groaned.“You win. I like you. A lot.”
He chuckled again,and the sound was rich and chocolatey. I felt it all the way to my toes. Hekissed my forehead. “That does make me a winner.” He stepped back for real thistime. “Holler if you need anything.”
“Sure thing.”
I watched him walkinto the kitchen without moving. This was crazy. Right?
And if it wasn’tcrazy, what was it? What werewe?
We hadn’t even beenon a date yet. We’d done nothing but kiss and confess feelings. I hadn’t evenhad time to process this long enough to decide what I wanted from Ezra.
Besides more kissesobviously.
So maybe I didn’tneed to put a label on us yet. Or any kind of pressure to figure it out. Iwasn’t going to obsess over him or us or this. I was just going to let ithappen. Because it was anybody’s guess right now where we’d end up.
