“He’ll help Sadie with the Eaters,” Marlee chirped.
“I’ll happily help Sadie.” Roman moved closer to her.
Sadie had mixed buckets of Eaters before when Eli was doing his soft opening. She’d even memorized the recipe so she could make it at home. They were that yummy.
“Follow me,” Sadie said, heading toward the kitchen.
Roman followed to the small room beside the kitchen where Eli made desserts and mixed the signature cocktails in oversized batches.
The two of them had the room to themselves as Sadie pulled the laminated recipe card from a bin on the wall. They laid out the ingredients, neither speaking.
“You’re quiet,” she mused.
“Yeah?” he asked.
“What are you thinking?” she asked. The silence stretching between them rubbed against her like an itchy wall.
“That I’d like to touch you,” he said.
Her breath stuck like peanut butter against her ribs. She’d spent all that time trying to convince herself it couldn’t work, and yet, when he came around, she questioned the logic she knew was sound.
She cleared her throat, focusing on pouring a bottle of gin into the white bucket. “Oh?”
He moved behind her, observing the preparation but also somehow making her body crave the touch he wanted as well.
“Can I touch you?” he whispered against her earlobe.
Oh yes. Yes, he could.
“Yes,” she whispered, but it came out slightly garbled.
She set down the now empty bottle of gin. He moved his palm to her cheek, and it was one of the most intimate things she’d ever experienced.
Anna sighed. “Does he always ask that?”
Pop. There went the Roman–Sadie bubble.
“Hey, guys.” She waved. “Marlee suggested you might appreciate some assistance.”
Marlee was so wrong.
“You’ve got to stop doing that thing that makes me forget there are other people around.” Sadie turned her head so his hand fell from her cheek.
“He’s way into you,” Anna said. “You’ve got to admit it.”
“It’s true.” His hand had dropped, but his eyes never left Sadie’s.
Did he just declare that? He couldn’t just waltz into her life and agree that he was into her.
She didn’t make it a practice of doing it often, but Sadie dramatically rolled her eyes at Roman.
“I don’t know that you can say I’mtotallyinto her though.” Then he broke the thread of their gaze, measuring the orange juice as the recipe dictated. “To be totally into someone, they kind of have to reciprocate at least a little. Sadie doesn’t seem to be into me, what with her dodging me every time I get close.”
“If you’re into me, then knock it off.” Sadie knew this recipe by heart, but with Roman around, her brain went fuzzy and she couldn’t focus. She stared at the typed card—next came the lime juice.
“Looks like you’ve got this handled.” Anna flicked her hair aside. “I guess I’ll go hang out with the girls.”
“Good call,” Roman replied.
