“Please make one without pineapple,” Easton mutters. “I have no idea how Lainey can stomach fruit on pizza.”
“You’ve never liked fruit,” I say with a teasing tone.
“Especially not when it’s warm on pizza.” I’m surprised when Easton takes hold of my hand and pulls me toward the sliding doors. “Let’s sit outside.”
Honestly, I’ll sit anywhere he wants me to.
I shake my head at my silly thoughts and take a seat on one of the lounge chairs on the veranda. Again, Easton surprises me by pulling his chair right next to mine before sitting down.
It’s nice spending time with him, and even though I love him with all my heart, I know deep down there will never be anything more than friendship between us. But it doesn’t stop me from cherishing these precious moments I get with him.
He turns his head to look at me. “If I’m not mistaken, Lainey starts spring break next Friday. I want to arrange a day where we do everything Rachel loves.”
“I like that idea.” I sit up a bit straighter and move slightly in my chair so I can face him. “What do you have in mind?”
“We can watch that movie you both loved in school. The one with the vampires.”
“Twilight?” I let out a chuckle. “That’s one of my favorites. Rachel just tolerated watching it a zillion times for me.”
“Oh.” His eyebrow lifts. “Let me think.” His gaze drifts over the backyard before settling on me again. “We could arrange another spa day?”
I nod enthusiastically. “She enjoyed the one we had on Monday.” I consider other things we could do, then ask, “Maybe a day at the beach?”
“Yes.” Easton pulls his phone out of his pocket, and I notice he opens a weather app. “Sunny days for the next week. We can have a barbeque as well.”
“We can end the day by playing a board game. She always loved kicking our butts with Monopoly.”
“That’s because she cheated,” he mutters.
My eyes lock with his. “Then we let her cheat to her heart’s content.”
Suddenly, his phone rings, and I glance at the screen. As he accepts the call, I stand up so I can give him privacy, but his hand shoots out and grabs hold of my wrist.
“Hey, Sylvia,” he answers while indicating with a nod of his head that I should sit back down again.
I do as I’m told, overly aware of his fingers around my wrist.
“I don’t care what the fucker says. I refuse to work with him,” he growls.
The anger in his tone has me tensing, but then his thumb begins to brush softly over the inside of my wrist. My gaze locks on where he’s touching me while my heart scampers off at a crazy pace.
“No interviews. I’m spending every day with Rachel, and I’ll probably take some time off so I can be there for Lainey,” he tells her before listening to whatever she says.
Easton adjusts his fingers until his index and middle fingers are right over my pulse. Realizing he can feel how fast my heart is beating, I quickly pull away from him.
His eyes snap to my face as he says, “Fine. Let me know how things go.”
As he ends the call, I glance at the garden and pool, feeling embarrassed and worried. I contemplate hightailing it into the house.
“Where were we?” Easton asks, and when I look at him again, it’s to see him setting the phone down on his thigh. “We should ask Rachel what she’d like to do.”
My voice is barely audible as I reply, “Definitely.”
“Nothing else you think we should add?”
I glance down at my wrist where I can still feel his touch.
Did he notice how my heart was racing?
