“Is this your, ah, work uniform?” he asks carefully.
“Yeah,” I say with a forced smile. “Just missing the steeled toes.”
“Oh, sorry.” Understanding finally dawns on him, and he shifts a duffle bag over his shoulder as he steps to the side.
“Wait, Claire, don’t rush off,” Daisy begins when I grab the first boot. “Why don’t youstay for dinner?”
“What are we going to make her, an egg sandwich?” I hear Landry whisper harshly, then he grunts when Daisy presumably elbows him in the ribs. “I mean, don’t go. We’re, um, getting takeout … since Rowan’s staying over.”
My eyes dance around the room as I measure the sincerity of their invitation. Daisy looks as though she’s bursting with excitement and plotting some kind of set up. Landry seems resolved but less than thrilled with the idea. And Rowan’s expression is still uncharacteristically blank.
I panic and reach for my boot again. “Thanks, but I don’t want to impose,” I tell them before Rowan reaches out to stop me with a firm hand on my arm.
“Stay,” he says levelly. “I’ll make dinner for everyone.”
I glance up to find him smiling softly. “Are you sure?” I ask hesitantly.
“Of course. I can’t make any promises about what I can whip up with the ingredients they’ll have, but I’m sure I’ll think of something.”
“Since when do you cook?” Landry crosses his arms and studies his friend carefully.
Rowan straightens his posture and shrugs. “Mom’s been teaching me a few things. And I recently learned to make marinara sauce from scratch, which I’ve found useful for a lot of other recipes.”
I roll my eyes, and I feel my face heating when everyone turns to look at me. I might have accidentally scoffed out loud.
“Sorry, ignore me,” I say awkwardly.
“What, you don’t think I can cook?” Rowan asks, his lips already curving up into a smile.
“If anything, I’m shocked you aren’t a Michelin Star chef,” I retort sarcastically.
He chuckles. “It’s on my bucket list, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet.”
“Right,” I confirm with a nod, trying to stifle my own smile. “You’ve still got to get your plumber’s license and your CDL first.”
His head lolls back as he groans playfully, and oneof my obnoxious cackles breaks free before I can stop myself. These little inside jokes are becoming dangerous.
“And how do you two know each other again?” Landry chimes in.
“Oh, we both …”
“Well, there was …”
“He works with that doctor …”
“And some mutual acquaintances …”
Rowan and I talk over one another as we fumble through another purposefully ambiguous explanation of our chance meetings, though my mind insists on an inconvenient callback to lying in bed with him that first night, our legs tangled together and his chest vibrating beneath my cheek each time he laughs, him calling me his soulmate before he pulls me in for a slow, heated kiss?—
“Yeah, because that makes sense,” Landry says with a grunt. Daisy bites her lip from her place beside him, just itching to bring up our conversation from before.
I cross my arms over my middle and shift my weight to one foot, still trying to disguise my body’s reaction to Rowan’s current proximity. But it’s impossible to keep my cool around him, mostly because he’s so damned cute. And it’s frankly a little annoying that he doesn’t seem to be as bothered with our clandestine situationship as I am today.
“I think it’s all downrightadorable,” Daisy declares after a second, batting her lashes at me, and I shoot her a warning glare.
“Well, I think they’re hiding something,” Landry continues. “And I’m shit at reading people, so I can’t be the only one picking up on this vibe.”
Rowan casts a terse glance my way, giving me the slightest bit of satisfaction before he clears his throat and steps forward. “And I think my sister has turned you into a romantic, Lan,” he says, stopping to pat Landry on the shoulder on his way down the hall. “I’m going to put my bag up. Daisy, why don’t you start digging through the pantry so I can see what we’ve got to work with?”
