“Shut up and kiss me again.”
He does. Thoroughly. Devastatingly. Until I can’t think about anything except his hands and his mouth and the way he’s looking at me when we break apart, foreheads pressed together, both of us breathing hard.
We stay like that for a long moment, tangled in my kitchen, the offer from Ginny forgotten on the table, the coaster from Tiddy’s right beside it. Two very different futures, side by side.
I already know which one I’m choosing.
Asher kisses me again, softer this time. “I’m not sharing my Wi-Fi with your B&B guests. You’re going to need your own account.”
I laugh against his mouth. “Fair enough.”
15
Eva
Asher asked me on a date. A real date. Not babysitting, not a medical appointment, not an accidental coffee-and-scones situation. He looked at me yesterday, after we finally stopped kissing long enough to breathe, and said, “Can I take you out tomorrow? Properly?”
How could I say no to that? The only problem is I’m not used to getting ready on my own. I stand in my temporary bedroom in my underwear, surrounded by the meager selection of outfits I brought with me on this unexpected journey.
I FaceTime Eden.
She answers on the third ring, her face filling the screen, a smear of what looks like honey on her cheek. “Eva! Hey! Sorry, I’m in the middle of—hold on…” The camera jostles as she sets something down. “Okay. What’s up? You look panicked.”
“I have a date.”
Eden screams. Actually screams, loud enough that I hear Esther yell, “What the hell?” from somewhere in the background. “With the yeti?”
“His name is Asher.”
“With Asher the yeti… Eva!” She’s bouncing now, the camera shaking. “Oh my god. Tell me everything. When did this happen? Did you kiss? You kissed, didn’t you? I can tell by your face that you kissed.”
“We kissed.”
More screaming. Esther appears over Eden’s shoulder, looking annoyed. “What is happening? I’m trying to work on the fall menu.”
“Eva kissed the hermit!”
Esther’s eyebrows shoot upward. “The hot one? With the beard?”
“I never said he was hot,” I protest.
“You described him as ‘unfairly attractive in a lumberjack way’ during our last sister call,” Eden says. “I wrote it down.”
“Why would you write that down?”
“Because I knew this would happen.” She grins. “Okay, so you kissed. And now you have a date. Tonight?”
“In an hour, and I have nothing to wear.”
“Tell me where he’s taking you.”
I rattle off the name of the place—some refurbished church—and Esther gasps. “Um, you know Bacon Hotman from Yes, Chef is the owner of that, right?”
“Why would I know that?” I hold up a sweater, and Eden shakes her head.
Esther sighs down to her bones. “If you are going to do social media as a job for clients in the service industry, you need to know about Bacon Hotman. Don’t wear green; you look washed out.”
“What about that blue tunic?” Eden asks. “I wonder if Bacon has a source for honey…I guess there are bees in the Catskills.”
