Chapter Four #3
“I won’t say no to that.” She motioned to the boxes of paper. “You ready to get started on all this?” She held up her hand when he opened his mouth to argue. “I’m offering to help. It’ll go faster with two of us.”
Us. Asher closed his mouth.
A tease crossed into her words. Her expression turned playful. She said, “Not to mention, I have a vested interest now seeing as I’m something of a business vendor of yours.”
The worry was when Asher looked at her, he was starting to see something between them that was a bit more personal and a lot less professional. He pointed to the box near her cowboy boots and said, “You take that one and I’ll take this one.”
Several hours later, the boxes were mostly empty.
However, now stacks of paperwork dotted the office floor, and the filing cabinet was still full.
It was going to take a number of nights to organize and sort completely.
And that suited Asher given he didn’t have work to occupy his evenings.
Even better, they had a menu set for the weekend and into next week.
Asher was already hungry thinking about it.
Outside in the driveway, he opened Kelley’s car door for her and said, “Please tell me you have more blackberries so I can put in an order for those turnovers. I can guarantee the ones back in the office won’t last the night.”
“About that.” Kelley laughed and turned toward him. “I have a confession.”
Asher had one, too. He liked the sound of her laughter.
It was light and easy and genuine. It filled him with joy, too.
And the Kentucky stars knew he needed more of that in his life.
He tucked his hands into his back pockets to keep from reaching for her as if he wanted to hold on to the feeling a little while longer and kept his thoughts to himself. “What’s that?”
“Those are Blackwell blackberries.” One of her eyebrows twitched, her grin was lopsided, her words unapologetic. “I sort of pilfered them from your property.”
“I didn’t even know we had blackberries around here,” he said. Nor did he know a cowgirl’s gaze could sparkle in the moonlight.
“My sisters and I found the wild blackberry briar when we were exploring our stepmom’s property on one of our weekend visits years ago,” she explained. “You can imagine it has now grown into a very large patch.”
He was less interested in the blackberries and much more caught up on the idea that Kelley might be fairly close by. No more than a horseback ride along the river. He asked, “Are you staying at your dad and stepmom’s place?”
“Only on the weekends.” She shook her head, and a small smile tripped out. “It’s like I’m twelve all over again and my parents are sharing custody.”
Asher eyed her. “Do you mind?”
“It is how it is,” she said and shrugged. “I stopped fighting it back in middle school when I realized my parents were a lot happier apart.”
Are you happier alone? I’m supposed to be. And then he looked into the cowgirl’s pretty eyes. He cleared his throat and said, “You never did answer my question about your blackberry stash. Do you have enough for more turnovers?”
“I’ll check when I get home and let you know.” She chuckled then eyed him. “If not, I know where to find more. Although I suppose I should probably ask permission from the owner.”
“You can have all the blackberries on this property if you keep me supplied in turnovers,” Asher said.
“I can arrange that.”
“Then we have another deal.” He extended his arm toward her.
She set her hand in his.
Asher stilled when he wanted to give a gentle tug.
Just enough to suggest he wanted her closer.
Just a nudge that would allow her to close the distance if she chose to or walk away.
Yet, he never flinched. He kept his fingers wrapped around hers, his expression relaxed and his words casual.
“Thanks for lending me your organizational skills tonight.”
“Anytime.” Her fingers flexed around his hand.
Now, that was a miscalculation. He had not considered the possibility that she might pull him toward her. And now he could not seem to stop considering it. He held his breath. I dare you, cowgirl.
Instead, she gave his fingers a firm squeeze and his arm a quick pump then said, “I appreciate you hiring me to cater. You won’t be disappointed.”
He refused to be disappointed now. After all, if she wasn’t returning to the city, Asher understood there could be nothing more between them than a professional relationship. He released her hand and said, “Until tomorrow, chef. Sweet dreams.”
She climbed into her car, started the engine and rolled down her window to call out, “Good night, Asher.”
He watched until her taillights disappeared around a bend then headed inside. And realized it was a good night. The first he had had in a long while. Thanks to a cowgirl chef and her blackberry turnovers.
But that was behind him now. He headed back to the office. He had work to do and one week to get it done. After all, his life was in New York and one “good night” could not change that.