Chapter 6
The next time Emily arrived at the Little Italy house, she came bearing ready-to-prepare soup. Baskets of homemade soup mixes, enough for their sizable crew, in pretty labeled jars. The guys swooped in on her in droves, lured by the promise of free food, and she smiled as she distributed containers of minestrone and split pea.
Michael saw the cracks in her surface. He recognized her smile was merely window dressing, weak camouflage for her disillusionment.
She was still hurting. The knowledge made him want to do anything he could to cheer her. Tickle her, stand on his head, whatever it took.
She walked up to him and handed him a jar. “You look like a minestrone man.”
He raised an eyebrow and accepted the jar. If only she knew he was more a boob and ass man, but he wouldn’t sully the moment with his carnal thoughts. He broke the seal on the jar and opened it, inhaling. “God, Em. It smells like heaven.”
“Just add eight cups of water and bring it to a boil. It’s that simple.”
“You’re assuming I won’t burn the water.”
“I would hope a talented guy like you might be able to heat up a pot of soup.”
He leaned in, his stomach gurgling because he was so happy to see her. It had been lonely on set without her for the past couple of days, despite being surrounded by crew members. “I do have some talents, but cooking might not rank among the most memorable.”
“You must be referring to tiling floors.”
“Yeah, tiling floors. You just keep telling yourself that.”
He was flirting with her. Why was he flirting with her? She’d had her whole world upended. And yet somehow he couldn’t bring himself to stop, especially not after seeing the light flash in her eyes again.
Lacey sashayed past and Emily grabbed her arm, which was probably a good thing, because Michael was about to grab Emily, throw her down on the nearest surface and kiss her hard.
Emily offered Lacey a jar. “Split pea?”
“Oh, aren’t you sweet?” Lacey didn’t accept the mix. “I’m afraid soup’s not really my thing.” The snide tone in her voice indicated it was as muchher thingas leprosy. She walked past and into another room.
“More for you, I guess.” Emily shrugged and handed Michael the second jar.
“This was a nice thing for you to do. You know, feeding the masses.”
“Just my way of saying thank you. And, in all honesty, a way to keep myself busy and distracted.” She checked out the new floor. “The floor is beautiful. The white tiles make the place look twice as big.”
“Glad you like it. Did you see what Eli did out front?”
“How could I miss it? All the dead shrubbery is gone. There’s so much space.”
“It’s all coming together.” He pulled her aside. “So have you heard from Trent?”
This was the part where she would tell him she’d made a horrible mistake. Where she’d inform him she and Trent had reconciled via a steamy lovemaking session and would love each other until the end of time.
“No.”
“Good. I was hoping he might leave you alone.”
“Yeah.” She smiled, her face set in a stoic mask. “Life continues. What are we working on today?”
On a hunch, he set his soup jars down next to his toolbox and led Emily toward the stairs. “Come with me. I want to show you something.”
“Sounds mysterious.”
“I will admit I was keeping this a secret, but I’ve made an executive decision to break withHandymentradition.”
“What will Lacey think?”
