A wry smile curled her lips. ‘Like?’
I paused, taking her in from head to toe. ‘Exquisite.’
Her mouth parted in surprise. Our eyes locked, and time melted away. I’d die a happy man if this was the last sight I’d ever see.
‘Here’s your tea, dear.’ Louise stepped between us, partially blocking my view of Rosie, a teacup and saucer in her hand.
‘Oh, uh, thank you.’ I reached out to grab it—mainly to bepolite—when Rosie strode across the kitchen and swiped the tea from my hands.
‘Mother.’ Her voice dipped low in warning.
Louise blinked several times at her daughter, the picture of innocence.
‘Yes, darling?’
They stared at each other, a silent conversation going on. I didn’t particularly want the tea, but I was British; far be it from me to complain.
‘No tea.’ Rosie thrust the cup back to Louise, who took it with a soft shake of her head.
‘You are so dramatic. It was just tea.’ She returned the cup to the sink and put it on the counter.
Rosie half-heartedly rolled her eyes and turned to me. ‘Shall we?’
What the hell had just happened? I shot a questioning gaze at Rosie, who shook her head.Okay.
‘Uh, yeah, of course.’
Unperturbed by her daughter, Louise waved her hands toward the front door. ‘Go go, this little pooch will be happy here until tomorrow.’
I couldn’t help myself. ‘Tea?’I asked when we got into the car, smirking at the weighty sigh that slipped past her lips.
Her head cocked in my direction. ‘If my mother ever tries to offer you tea. Just say no.’
‘I did,' I pointed out. ‘She ignored me.’
She huffed out a laugh. ‘Yeah, that sounds about right.’
‘What’s with the tea?’ I turned the car on, pulling awayfrom the curb.
‘Apart from most of it being disgusting because she makes it herself, you never know what she puts in it.’
My gaze flicked to her sitting in the passenger seat. Her hair flowed around her shoulders in soft curls, her pale skin coated in the soft amber glow from the passing street lamps.
‘I’m on the edge of my seat.’ I glanced at her with a smirk.
‘She likes to experiment with different ingredients. Makes up different types of tea with odd things she finds. And she’s not overly bothered whether or not those things are actually edible.’
I suppressed a shudder. ‘You’re kidding.’
‘The last cup of tea I took from her, which nearly made me vomit, was made of rose hip, ground radishes, cinnamon, and roasted cockroaches.’
Seeing my horrified expression, she sighed. ‘Yeah, it was as bad as you’re imagining.’
‘No tea. Got it.’
Now we’d been driving for a bit, she sat up straight, looking out the window. ‘Are you gonna tell me where we’re going now?’
Not bothering to stifle how happy I was that I managed to surprise her, I grinned. ‘You’ll see.’
