She kept an immaculate yard, and he’d been to her house on the weekend where she spent hours among the flowers while he did his best to keep up with her. He felt like that was all he’d ever be able to do: Try to keep up with Farrah Irvine.
“Thanks for coming,” she said, stepping back to allow him into her house. “I hope you’re ready to make a meatloaf.”
He groaned and turned back to her. “Maybe we could just order in.”
She shoved him in the chest, a playful, flirtatious gesture he hadn’t had from her in far too long. He latched onto her wrist; their gazes locked; something heated and charged passed between them. Darren knew what it was. That spark, that chemistry, that had always existed between them. At least it hadn’t died over the last few months apart.
He slowly lifted her wrist to his lips, pressing a kiss right against her pulse. “Are you making the mashed potatoes?” His voice sounded too low, too throaty, to pass off as casual.
“No, sir. I was just fixin’ to sit down and relax while you made me dinner.”
He groaned again, but got his feet moving toward her kitchen.
“Come on, now,” she said. “I don’t want to hear any complaining. A man who cooks dinner for his girlfriend is sexy. A whining man never is.”
Darren froze, all his muscles seizing with one simple word. “Girlfriend?”
She came around him, faced him head-on. Farrah had never been afraid of a challenge, and Darren had always loved that about her.
“I want to try again, Darren,” she said. “I messed up last time, and well, I’m hoping you’ll let me try again.”
Darren would give Farrah Irvine a dozen chances if she needed them. He couldn’t get his voice to work, so he simply nodded. Her blue-green eyes filled with hope and turned glassy with unshed tears.
She cleared her throat and turned away from him. “All right, then. I want meatloaf and mashed potatoes in one hour. We’ll go from there.”
chapter
ten
Farrah couldn’t believeDarren hadn’t kissed her after she’d told him she wanted a second chance with him. If Jim and Corey were to be believed, he’d been nothing but grumpy and moody since their break-up. Heck, she’d seen evidence of that herself.
But he’d only nodded, and she’d put the recipe on the kitchen counter. She’d then retreated to the safety of the living room. Too much heat stood in the kitchen, and none of it came from the boiling pot of water on the stove or the four-hundred-degree oven.
Darren worked methodically, which was a nice way for Farrah to sayslow. But he got a meatloaf put together and in the oven before turning his attention to the potatoes. He’d just made those a couple of nights ago, but she still heard him muttering as he peeled.
She hated peeling potatoes with the fire of a thousand suns, so she couldn’t blame him. Most of the blame she had to give always came back to herself. She had a lot more to tell him, and from what he’d said yesterday at dinner, he wasn’t going anywhere until she started talking. That more than anything had shown her that he genuinely cared about her.
So go on,she told herself.Get in there and tell him something he doesn’t know.
She leaned against the counter as he put the lid on the potatoes. “You’re doing awesome, Darren.”
“Thanks.” He glanced around the kitchen he’d cleaned as he’d cooked. “What do I do now?”
“Nothing. Everything cooks.” She glanced into her microscopic living room. “You come sit by me and talk until the timer goes off.” She extended her hand toward him, and he hesitated for a moment before taking it.
She waited for him to sit, and then she curled into him the way she’d done many times before. Usually she kissed him first. No, usually they ate first. Then he kissed her until she couldn’t breathe, then he fell asleep on her couch while they watched a movie.
Tonight, there was no food yet, no kissing, and no movie.
Farrah drew in a deep breath. “I haven’t talked to my parents in a while,” she admitted.
Darren drew lazy patterns along her bare arms, eliciting a shiver from her. “Why not?”
“I’m…I’m not their daughter.”
His fingers stilled. “Farrah,” he said in a warning tone. “Yes, you are. They raised you. You’re their daughter.”
“You don’t understand.” She shook her head, not quite sure what response she’d expected from him.
