"Hello," I said cordially to him. "That's for you."
"Good morning, and thank you for this." He touched my arm. It was in a casual way that nobody else noticed, but I did. I definitely noticed. "I like your music," he said to me.
"That's totally random," I said, lying even though I didn't mean to. I was so nervous that I didn't even know what I was saying.
People were talking all around me. Some of them were talking to Ash. I smiled at him and then casually announced that I was going to finish up in the back. He thanked me again, and I took off, trying to act like I wasn't nervous around him. The Beatles. I had to smile at the song that was the soundtrack of this moment. My sister was a comedian, and I had to shake my head at her. I let the door swing closed behind me, and I held my breath and closed my eyes, grinning at the memory of how he had looked at me just now.
He had touched my arm. I couldn’t help but think of him as the guy on the stage with the guitar, and seeing him in his work clothes made me feel so flushed. I heard the door swing open behind me, and I spun around to find Ash.
He held up his fork. "I dropped my fork," he explained loud enough that the people behind him could hear. He shrugged at me with a silly face, like it should be obvious that he was lying.
"The forks are out there," I said, smiling and motioning behind him.
He made another face.
"But I have some back here, too," I added. "Let me put this down, and I'll grab you one."
I set the tray on a table, and I went to give him a fork. I turned and held my hand out, handing it to him. "Here, let me have that dirty one."
We went to trade forks. I handed him the clean one with my right and took the dirty one with my left. He held onto my hands,and the exchange turned into us standing there holding both hands with forks in the middle. We grinned.
"Someone's going to see us," I said, glancing at the window that led into my dining room. He let go of me, taking the clean fork and leaving the dirty one with me.
"I dropped it on purpose," he said.
I smiled. "I wondered."
"Thank you for breakfast. I'm going to eat it really fast and head back to the house. The plumber's still there."
"Do you need me to make him something?"
He tilted his head at me. "No, thank you, Audrey, and please stop being so nice."
He had a serious expression, and I said, "Why?"
"Because I already like you enough. I can't take it with all the thoughtfulness."
I smiled. I wanted to say something witty that would make him like me. I wanted to flirt in the coolest, most appealing way. And I could think of nothing good to say. I just shrugged and smiled at him like I wasn't sure what to say, which I wasn't.
"Hey, can I get Lu something for Christmas? Just a little something. Would that be okay, or is that weird?"
"I don't think it's weird. Yes, it's fine. It's nice. Do you think it's weird?"
"No, I don't, or I wouldn't have asked."
"Yeah, no, I, I was trying to think if it would… confuse her or anything, but no, she knows you're my friend. Collin actually got her something, too."
"Collin?"
"Yeah, Lu goes with me to rehearsal sometimes, and she's always trying on my… he got her these little heels. They're jazz shoes, for dancing, but they have a little heel. Anyway, yes. Thank you. I'm sorry for saying all that. I was just saying it's fine for you to get her a gift."
"Well, the problem is that you had to go and make me jealous," he said.
Just then, the door swung open again.
"Definitely no need for that with Collin," I said casually to him. I finished just in time to smile at the two who had just come in.
I glanced back at Ash, and he stared at me with an irresistible mischievous gleam in his eye. He held up the fork. "Thanks for this," he said, taking a step back. Cameron and Ty had come into the kitchen together, and Ash turned to talk to them on his way out.
