And you’ll have to do it again as soon as he leaves, she reminded herself. They’d have to talk about their relationship, too, what last night meant, their expectations, where this was going and—
She caught her reflection in the mirror then, her blue eyes bright, her blond hair now pulled back.
Stop spiraling.
This moment was perfect, and if that’s all she would get with Freddie now, that would be enough. She had to appreciate that.
With the resolution on repeat in her head, she opened the bathroom door to find Freddie dressed and in the kitchen. The percolator was disassembled in front of him and there were coffee grounds spilled across the Formica countertop.
“Okay, turns out I don’t know how to work a percolator,” he said, frowning.
Anne laughed, reaching for the filter. “Matriculately challenged is right.”
She took over but he didn’t move, standing close as she filled the tank, twisted the top back on and put it over the small burner on her oven. A moment later, she poured the coffee into two mugs, then added milk to both and a spoonful of sugar to his.
“You remembered,” he said as she handed the coffee to him.
Oh God, she had. It wasn’t even conscious, just muscle memory.
“Well, how could I forget?” she said with a shrug. “Every time your mom saw you do it, she reminded you that your grandfather had diabetes.”
He chuckled to himself. “I like to live dangerously.”
She smiled, too, but hid it under the rim of her mug as she took a sip. Freddie watched the motion, his gaze locked on her lips before blinking away.
“So what’s your meeting tomorrow?” she asked, taking a sip of her coffee.
He shrugged one shoulder. “This green tech company wants me to come on board and run their sustainable farming division.”
Anne paused. It didn’t sound like something Freddie from eightyears ago would ever have been interested in. But she wasn’t in the position to question. Not yet.
“What about you?” he asked. “I didn’t think Sophie was in the city today. What are you two working on?”
“Oh.” She blinked. “No. Actually, I’m having coffee with the showrunner onDivorce Divas.He started his own production company and I’ve been helping. I think he wants to talk to me about coming on board, maybe working on his new show.”
Freddie frowned. “Why?”
“What do you mean?”
“Why meet with him? I thought you hated TV?”
Anne’s mouth fell open, but it was another moment before anything came out. “I did. I mean, I do. But it’s where I have the most experience. And I need a job, so—”
“You have a job. Sophie asked you to be her partner.”
“Right, but I don’t know if that’s the smart choice right now. For me.”
His expression had lost all its humor. “Yesterday you said you wanted to do it.”
“I do. But I can’t base a huge life decision on how much I want it. There are other factors that need to be considered. For instance, my mom told me that fifty percent of floral shops close their first year and—”
Freddie let out a bitter laugh as he put his coffee mug back on the counter. “Your mom is still making decisions about your life?”
Anne’s eyebrows pinched together as an old forgotten anger poked at her chest. “My mom never made decisions about my life, Freddie.”
“Didn’t she?”
The energy between them suddenly felt unstable, dangerous. A minefield they’d accidentally stumbled upon right here in the kitchen.
