He slapped his hands together and rubbed them. “Points for me. Do you want a tour of the house or for me to start dinner?”
“Dinner can wait a minute. This place looks big.”
He’d told her it had three bedrooms so they had to be huge.
“It has more room than I need,” he said. They moved past the front. “My room. The bathroom is through there and a closet that is fairly empty.”
She looked past the queen-sized bed and popped her head into the bathroom. “Looks modern and doable. Bigger than at The Retreat.”
“Yep. It’s fine.” She followed him up the stairs and to the left. “This doesn’t count as a bedroom since it has no closet, but they were using it as one. It’s my office.”
She got closer to the window to gaze in the distance. “And a nice view.”
“The best in the house. Not like The Retreat, but again, doable. The other rooms are just spares with beds and then a hall bath.”
They returned to the kitchen, her sitting at the table while he got down to business.
“Be honest. Did leaving on time make you feel like you were slacking off?”
She scrunched her nose at his joke. It hit too close to the truth. “Maybe.”
“I thought you’d appreciate not spending as much time there.”
“I do. Less worry of being caught.”
His head swirled at the words. “Caught? Is that how you see our relationship?”
Made a mistake there. “No. I didn’t mean it that way. It’s out that I’m seeing a guest.”
“Oh, really? That’s news to me. So tell me, does it feel deliciously rebellious, or are you already drowning in guilt and waiting to be scolded?”
“Will you stop,” she said, looking for something to pick up and throw at him. The table was empty and she wouldn’t get that satisfaction.
“You’re laughing, but you didn’t answer me.”
“Maybe it’s a little of both. I said nothing because it wasn’t a big deal. It was someone I went to school with. Not anyone that I was friends with.”
“And that means Natalie Bond had to put on her professional face and pretend it wasn’t that big of a deal.”
She stood up and walked close to him for a quick hug. He was opening the bags of seafood so she thought better of it. The smell had her halting. “Actually. I didn’t do that. She pushed a button that few do and it popped. Slightly. I didn’t say what I would have loved to, but I gave her enough to leave her standing in place with her mouth open. And let me tell you, it felt... fabulous.”
“Good for you! What did you say?”
She told him the way the conversation went, and how she ended it, on her terms.
“Was that bad of me?”
“Not even close. I would have said more. Wish I could have witnessed that or known earlier.”
“Why?” she asked. She didn’t want to be rude and go back to the table, but leaned on the counter while he continued to prepare dinner.
“Because it makes me proud. You’ve said before I bring that out of you.”
“You do. It carried over and was a long time coming. I knew it’d make the rounds and it did. I’m sure they’ve got your name now. Melody would have been someone who has prepared some of your meals. She’d have access to your name.”
“And could tell others? That’s a no-no. People get fired for that.”
She grinned at the mock horror on his face. “She’s not that stupid.” Unfortunately. “She’ll know your name, but it won’t come from her lips first. Someone else will say it around her. And many have.”
