We sat on opposite sides of the battered old couch, me on my Kindle and Hailey reading something with a hard cover. Every once in a while I’d sneak a look at her. Her eyes scanned the pages quickly, a little furrow appearing between her brows when she concentrated. I wondered what she’d do if I leaned across and kissed them smooth?
“What?” she asked when she caught me staring.
“Nothing,” I shrugged. “Just spacing out.”
She looked suspicious but didn’t call me on it.
“Are you getting hungry? I was thinking we could make dinner.”
I liked the way she said ‘we’ like we were in this together.
“I don’t really know how to cook, but I’m a fast learner.”
“Of course you don’t,” she mumbled under her breath. “Come on then.”
Hailey put me on potato peeling duty while she prepped some chicken breasts to put in the oven.
“What do you do about eating at home if you don’t cook?” she asked. “Surely you don’t go out for every meal?”
“I have a meal service,” I explained. “They leave perfectly portioned meals in my fridge, and I just heat them up in the microwave.”
“Sounds like a waste of packaging,” she said.
It was true, and I was embarrassed that I hadn’t thought about it before.
“Plus, I have my doubts about the effects of microwaves on food.”
I was going to ask her what she meant, but then Hailey moved closer, her hand closing around mine, and I forgot what I was going to say. I sucked in a breath as my skin started tingling.
“Let me show you how to cut those before you sever a finger.”
She rearranged the hand on the knife, then demonstrated the proper technique until I got the hang of it. It was hard to concentrate with Hailey so close to me. What would a regular person do in this situation I wondered. Suddenly I flashed on a holiday romcom I’d done several years ago. My character had wanted her chef boss to kiss her, so she’d set the knife down and faked tripping, falling into his arms. That could work in real life, right?
I put the knife down on the counter and spun around, just like I had in the film, pitching forward. But instead of catching me, one of Hailey’s hands shot out, pressing against my chest just above my breasts, stopping my momentum.
“What’s wrong?” she said. “Why did you throw yourself forward like that?”
I guess I was out of practice or something. That move worked fine inCooking for the Holidays.
“What’sCooking for the Holidays?” Hailey asked.
Oh damn, I’d said that out loud.
“It’s a film I did a few years ago,” I explained. “My character wanted her boss to kiss her so she faked like she was tripping, and then when she fell into his arms he couldn’t help but kiss her.”
Hailey frowned at me for a few seconds before realization dawned. “Are you saying you want to kiss me?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“Well why don’t you do it like a normal person?” There was a tinge of exasperation in her tone.
“I have no idea how to be a normal person,” I replied.
It was the most honest thing I’d ever said.
Hailey stared at me for several long seconds before she muttered,fuck it, and grabbed my arms, right above the elbows.
“As it happens, I want to kiss you too.”
