"Can I do it for you?"
"Then you'd know where my keys are hidden," I said.
He shrugged. "That's probably a good thing," he said. "Seeing as how I'm a trustworthy person and I'd look out for you."
"I do trust you," I said.
"It's just easier for me to go get it than to try to explain to you where it is."
"Do you want me to come with you?"
"No, I got it. I'll be back in a second."
I got out of the car, and within a minute or two, I had retrieved the key and was sitting next to him again.
In another couple of minutes, we were standing at the back door of my restaurant. We had parked in the alley, in my usual spot.
I cooked at Cal's station because he had a more diverse tool selection. I specialized in poached eggs, so my station was set up for that, and his was set up for everything else. I had no idea what Ash was going to want to do when he picked me up, but this was the best-case scenario. It was a lighthearted and wholesome thing for him to want to do, and I didn't feel guilty running around in the middle of the night while Luna was out of town. Plus, I was in my element at the restaurant, and it was something easy and fun for us to do at midnight on Sunday.
Ash wanted the same French toast I had made for him before, and I had all of the ingredients to do that, using sausage instead of bacon. I would have fruit delivered in time for openingon Tuesday, but right then, I had no fresh fruit. I had some strawberries in the fridge that I had cooked down in syrup, and I put a few of them on his toast. I garnished it with powdered sugar and whipped cream.
I set a dispenser of maple syrup near his plate. Ash had gone to the restroom while I was getting everything to the table, and he came back just in time for me to finish. I looked up, my eyes meeting his. That blue. It made my heart stop every time.
Chapter 9
Ash Adams
Ash just couldn't understand why Audrey had pulled away from him so abruptly back in the summer. She had said she wanted to focus on her daughter, and they had gone from really hitting it off to no contact at all. He couldn't deny his attraction to her, though. It was still there. He saw her last month, and now there they were seeing each other two days in a row. He was hungry, physically, and watching her move around her restaurant and whip up a meal for him made him feel hungry in other ways, which made him antsy. Ash excused himself to use the restroom while she was plating the food.
He took a minute to run some water over his face, dry it with a paper towel, and look in the mirror. He adjusted his hair and checked his teeth for goodness sake. It had been a while since Ash was this nervous in the presence of a woman. Even last summer, when he had first been getting to know Audrey, he had been more relaxed than this. Maybe that was because she wanted him back then. She had been doing and saying things to please him when they first met, and now she was indifferent about how he felt toward her. Maybe that was why he wanted her so badly.
He took a deep breath and reminded himself that he needed to slow down. He did not want to scare her off. He would just go eat some French toast, and that would be that. He wouldn't even kiss her tonight.
Ash opened the restroom door to head back into the kitchen. It was the employee restroom, so he only had to take a few steps before seeing her again.What had he been thinking? He would hurt her feelings if he didn't try to kiss her after she did all this.He had to smile at himself for being so quick to change his mind and justify something that hadn't even happened yet.
"What do you want to drink?" she asked. "I already poured you a glass of milk, but do you want anything else?"
"No, I don't, thank you. And this looks amazing. Thank you for making this, Audrey. Seriously, this is better than anything else I could think of eating right now. It's gorgeous."
"You're very welcome," she said, blinking at him like she didn't expect such heartfelt gratitude. "I didn't have any fresh fruit."
"This is amazing." He moved to sit next to her at the table, and he felt like leaning in and kissing her cheek. He was thankful for this plate of food, and a kiss on the cheek seemed like a natural response right then. But that wasn't natural for her. Ash took a deep breath and sat in his chair, reminding himself to give her space.
He looked down to inspect the plate in front of him. It was picturesque, like something you'd see in a magazine or recipe book. He was blown away at the fact that she had whipped that up while talking to him. It smelled and looked so delicious. He had thought about this meal several times since the last time she made it for him.
"You gave me way more," he said.
"I'm not that hungry," she said, cutting into the edge of her piece with her fork.
"But you don't have to eat it all if you don't want to finish it."
"Oh, I want to finish it, I just didn't know if you had enough."
"Oh, yeah, for sure. I made mine how I wanted it."
They had been talking about his life while she was cooking. She wanted to know more about the possible audition he had coming up with Sam, and then she asked about his band. He told her about that stuff, and then they brought up things about his family. He had been meaning to ask her about the play.
"How are you liking Chicago?" he asked. "Tell me about the play. Who's that guy who was with you last night? Is he in the play with you?"
