Chapter Five #3
“I overstepped, didn’t I?” he asked and continued, “You wanted to pick the blackberries yourself. Make sure you got the best ones. And I read they need to be soaked or something.” He sighed. “Now I’ve given you more work, which was not my intention. This was a bad idea.”
So was a date night between friends. Still, a thoughtful cowboy was hard to resist. Kelley rubbed her forehead. “It’s not that.”
“Please tell me you aren’t quitting,” Asher said, a hint of worry in his words. “The staff was raving about your tomato egg bagel bake and mini quiches. Best breakfast they’ve had in years. I’d have to agree.”
“That’s nice to hear.” Especially from him.
“You don’t sound happy.” He searched her face.
Are you? Happy to your core and all that.
That was why she had come home. To reset and then get on with being happy on her own.
But she looked at him and she started to remember the parts of a relationship she liked.
The anticipation. The fun. The romance. But then there were the not-so-great parts like broken promises and broken hearts.
“Sorry. It’s not you.” Although you might have been. In another time and place. Then Kelley added, “I’m distracted. I’ve got unexpected logistic issues to figure out.”
“Anything I can help with?” He reached up and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.
His touch was gentle and gone before she caught hold of the warmth. Now she was teetering. So close to leaping where she should not. She blurted, “Yes, you can help.”
Remind me I’m divorced. Remind me I don’t take risks with my heart anymore. A date night would only be an entanglement she didn’t want.
She rushed on, “It would really help if I could use your kitchen. The food would be on site and there wouldn’t be any delivery charge going forward.”
He straightened and smoothed his hand over his mouth. “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea.”
Now she overstepped. The food would be close by and so would she. There she was feeling something he was not. Foolish cowgirl. Not a mistake she would make again. A quick course correction and she was back to putting her work first. “I meant the kitchen down at the stables of course.”
“There isn’t one suitable for a professional chef like you.” He scratched his cheek and continued, “The one in the staff quarters is streamlined for reheating and microwaving pretty much. The oven could hold a potato or two, but not much more.”
Sounded like her mother’s place. She lowered her voice. “It’s just the diner kitchen isn’t available to me any longer.” And if the diner sold, her job would not be guaranteed, and her catering might need to become more than a side hustle.
Asher glanced over her shoulder and said, “It looks like it’s in working order.”
“Pauline’s got some ideas about keeping it that way.” Kelley smoothed her hair off her face. “She wants to keep things extra clean while the diner is up for sale.”
He nodded. “I’d offer the kitchen at the ranch house, but…”
“That will work,” she cut in. She would make it work. This was about standing on her own, after all. She could do that with her own catering business. It would be a first step in the right direction. “I promise I won’t be in your way. You won’t even know I’m there.”
His gaze swung back, and his startling blue eyes settled on her, intensely warm and impossibly tender.
Kelley felt her toes curl and her skin heat.
“I’m not sure that would be possible,” he drawled.
Now she felt slightly breathless. Oh, he knew she was there right now. Warning lights flashed. Time to prove her heart was on the shelf where she intended to leave it. This was business and nothing personal. Kelley said, “Then I can use your kitchen.”
His gaze flickered to her bottom lip—the one she was chewing on—then returned to her eyes. “I just don’t know if…”
She set her palm on his chest. Oh dear. There she was getting all impulsive again.
Snatch it back. She couldn’t move. If she did move it would be toward him.
Say something. This was the part where she went back on her word and got in his way.
Do something. Finally, she whispered, “Please. I’ll add blackberry ice cream to the rotation of after-dinner treats. ”
“You’re making it hard to say no,” he said, yet his gaze warmed even more.
She knew the feeling.
Finally, he sighed and said, “You can use the kitchen.”
“We can talk more after the meeting.” By then her pulse was sure to be settled.
“See you later, then.” Instead of leaving, he leaned in and said softly, “And for the record, you are welcome to get in my way anytime.”
That set her pulse to racing and her knees to buckling.
One touch of his fingers against the brim of his cowboy hat and he stepped out of her way. At the exit, he turned back and said, “I should warn you. The kitchen is not what you’re expecting.”
Kelley swallowed against her suddenly dry throat and said, “I’ll make it work. It will be great.”
He nodded and walked outside.
And Kelley finally exhaled.
Her city cowboy was not what she was expecting. But she was holding her own with him. Now all she had to do was keep from holding on to him.