Page 12 of A Little Bit Uncertain

“Get in line, Wright,” Maeve laughed. “We’ve been trying to get Audra to do this for the masses for a long time.”

“Really?” He said, looking at me.

“Yes,” Maeve replied for me. “Her and Cora should open a food and baked goods business. They’d make bank.”

“But it would take the love out of it, ya know? People are too picky, and I wouldn’t want to open myself up to that kind of criticism. I’m way too thin-skinned for that. They’d kill my love for it, and that’d be a shame, because if I didn’t enjoy cooking anymore, how would I eat?” I laughed.

“Well, I’m notoriously not picky. Just saying,” Donovan said.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I smirked at him. Cooking a meal a week for Donovan? I could probably make that happen. If he really wasn’t picky, I was always looking for people to try recipes with. That partnership could work out.

We enjoyed our little feast, and the lighthearted banter and conversation came easy. Hell, I’d cook once a week just to enjoy time like this with them. My alarm went off at 12:30 p.m., and I was thankful that I had set it because I completely lost track of time.

“Ugh-that’s my cue, guys. Wish I could stay!”

“Me too! Donovan, invent a job for Audra at our office and pay her more than she’s making at the hospital. We could do this every day!”

Donovan laughed. “If I can think of anything, I will. I mean, the position of a full-time lunch chef who dabbles in tablescaping with a background in nursing is open if there’s interest out there. I just thought it was too niche to post.”

“Me! Me! Pick Me!” I giggled while raising my hand. “Sign me up.” Little did he know there was a part of me that wasn’t joking. At least I’d be out of the hospital.

We laughed, and I started to pack up my things, thankful that it was much lighter than it had been on the way up. At this point, I would have to hustle to work so I wouldn’t be late, because I was milking every minute here. I walked over to Maeve to hug her goodbye, but suddenly felt self-conscious about what to say to Donovan.

“Here,” he said, holding out his arm and reaching for the bags, “Let me help you.”

“It’s fine. They are lighter than on the way up,” I protested.

“Yes, and I feel like enough of an ass that I didn’t help you carry them up. But now I can walk them to your car. This is the equivalent of you cook, I clean. My nanny would kill me if I forgot my manners.” I noted the fact that he said his nanny would kill him and not his parents. But if he was insistent on taking the bags, I wasn’t going to argue.

“Ok,” I smiled at him, “Thank you.”

He grabbed them from my arms and walked to my car. After putting them in the back seat, he turned to me. “Thanks again for lunch, Audra. It was incredible, from the food to the company to the tablescape. I would love to do this again.”

“It was great, Donovan. Thanks for letting me crash lunch.” I stood there, not knowing what to do. Do I wave? Hug him? A part of me wanted to kiss him, but that was crazy talk. He made the decision when he reached out to pull me in for a hug. It caught me by surprise, but I wrapped my arms right back around him. I wasn’t tiny, but Donovan was huge. I fit snugly against his body, and when his arms wrapped around me, it formed a little cocoon. And it wasn’t a quick hug. It was a lingering one. This did not suck.

“Have a great day,” he said as he pulled away, leaving me a little dazed.

“You too, Donovan.” Getting in my car, he closed my door and waved as I drove off with butterflies rioting in my stomach. That was so much fun, and Maeve’s words about him not acting like this around people kept rattling in my brain. As soon as I got to work, the shit was already hitting the fan, so I had to jump right in. But that pep in my step sure helped carry me through that shift.