"Um... do you mind?" He looked pointedly at the door.
"Sorry."
She sidestepped, and he wasted no time going into the bathroom and closing the door between them. He couldn't believe he'd wanted to kiss her. He blamed it all on his mom. She told him he could kiss and cuddle with Eden, and he may have imagined doing just that a time or two today. It didn't help that she still wore that ridiculous apron.
Would things always be this awkward and tense between them?
Yes, as long as I continue to fight this attraction for Eden.
But if he decided to stop fighting, and she reciprocated—like he suspected she might—then things would be tense in a whole new way.
He jumped when a knock sounded on the door behind him. Bracing himself, he opened the door and peered at Eden. "What?" His voice came out gruffer than he intended.
"Sorry, I...um. I need some burn cream."
"Why didn't you say so?" He held the door open and beckoned her in. He looked at the hand she held out in front of her. An angry red mark marred the side of her thumb.
The bathroom that had always felt rather roomy suddenly shrank to the size of a clothing-store dressing room as Eden rifled through her cosmetic bag.
"You keep burn cream with your makeup?"
"I can't count the number of times I've burned myself on a curling wand or straightener." She glanced at him in the mirror before continuing to dig in her bag. "Aha, found it!" She shot him a triumphant smile before disappearing from the bathroom.
A smile that made his heart pound so hard in his chest, he feared he might have a heart attack.
CHAPTER6
Sitting across the table from Eden again for dinner was only slightly less uncomfortable than last night. Just as he'd guessed, Mom had made a rich and savory stew, and between the four of them, they devoured another loaf of bread with jam, of course.
He grinned when Mom brought out the strawberry pie and topped it generously with whipped cream. Rudy loved this time of year. His mom's fresh strawberry pie was almost as good as her fresh peach pie in the fall. Oh, and her apple pie...
She was the best cook.
She placed a big slice in front of him, and he took a bite. Delicious, as always. He closed his eyes and savored the sweet and buttery taste. "Mmm... Mmm..."
Dad's hum of approval joined his, and Eden started giggling.
Rudy looked at her. "What? It's good."
"You're both so expressive, so..." She waved her hand in the air as she searched for a word. "So dramatic."
"Passionate, Eden, girl," Dad said with a wink. "It's not drama. It's passion."
Eden stopped laughing, and her gaze skittered away from Rudy's.
Rudy lowered his own gaze to his pie. Passion was not a word he should be thinking about. Not after he had that insane urge to kiss Eden less than an hour ago.
After scraping the last morsel from his plate, he stood. "Delicious as always, Mom."
"Don't compliment me. Eden made the pie. Not bad for a first attempt, huh?"
Again, Rudy stared at Eden, stunned. If someone had told him when he first met the rich Daddy's Girl that he'd be eating her homemade pie and jam a few months later, he would have laughed. Eden had joked about what a lousy cook she was while they made homemade pizza two days before the wedding, and Kennedy had seconded it. Either the two of them had been exaggerating, or Eden had had a change of heart when it came to the desire to acquire culinary skills.
At any rate, he'd misjudged her.
He met her gaze and gave her a big smile. "It tasted great. Thanks."
Several minutes later after helping clean up the kitchen, he was about to head downstairs to work out—anything to get away from Eden—when his mom stopped him.
