"Our plates are right over here," I said, snapping out of it and looking away from him.
"I love your place," he said, bending down to take off his boots. He unlaced and loosened them before slipping them off and leaving them by the door. He shrugged out of his jacket and tossed it onto my hall tree like he had been to my house a hundred times. My heart was pounding. The sight of Ash with all his perfect masculine energy filling my entryway caused my heart to feel all sorts of things. I went into the kitchen, where I had our places set at my bar.
"How about to drink?" I said, not looking at him. When I did glance at him, I noticed that he was sitting at my plate.
"Switch spots because that one has more."
"I'll gladly take the one with more," he said, standing up, "But I'm going to wash my hands first, if you don't mind. Should I go to the restroom?"
"Do you need to?" I asked, glancing at him.
He grinned at me, that heart-stopping white-toothed grin of his that got me in so much trouble every time. I looked at his eyes instead, and that was no help. He had striking blue eyes that were even more distracting than his smile.
"No, I don't need to," he said. "I was just wondering if you wanted me to use the bathroom sink to wash my hands or if this one was okay."
"No, we wash our hands out here all the time. There are a few dishes in the sink. Just flip the nozzle to the other side."
He went to my sink while I made our drinks and set them in front of us. It felt so odd having Ash in my house. I sat at the bar and started eating without waiting for him. I had a small container of maple syrup on the counter between us, but I didn't use it on my toast. I cut into the corner of a slice and ate a bite, along with a raspberry.
"No syrup?" he asked, sitting next to me. He poured a little of it onto his.
"Not for me, but it'll be tasty on there, that's why I put it out for you."
"Are you sure?" he asked, hovering it over my plate.
I grinned. "Okay, fine, a little, on one side."
He hesitated. "Don't let me talk you into something you don’t want."
"I want it," I said. "I want a little."
Ash poured mine and then a bit more onto his. "Hey, congratulations on the play," he said. He took a bite and then, ashe chewed, he added, "Oh, my goodness, Audrey, this is so good. Thank you for this."
I had some nice thick-cut bacon in the fridge that I brought home from the restaurant. I reheated it and served it with our French toast. Like the raspberries, the bacon was added after I heard he was coming. I smiled when Ash took a piece of it, dipped it into a bit of syrup, and ate the whole piece in one bite.For goodness sake, how did watching a man eat bacon give me these kinds of feelings?I concentrated on my own food, doing my best not to be distracted by Ash.
"So, tell me all about it," he said, continuing to eat.
"About what?"
"The play, of course. How was the audition? It must've gone well. You got a role."
"Yes, I did. I can't believe it. I just found out this morning. James called when I was on my way to take Luna to school."
"Is that where she is right now?" he said, looking around.
"Yeah, she's there till two-thirty."
"This is a great house for her."
"Thank you," I said.
I almost added that my ex-in-laws helped me afford it, but I didn't. I just ate.
"What's the play about? What's your role? I know you told me it was in February, right?"
I nodded. "I'm in the coolest scene," I said. "We're all women in prison, and the whole point of the song is to say what we did to end up in there."
"And what did you do?" he asked.
