Chapter Chapter Four
Amy
I absolutely adored Knox’s house. It was nothing like I’d imagined—though, honestly, I wasn’t sure what I had imagined.
His first bachelor pad had been downtown and had a sprawling terrace with an amazing view.
The living room had been sparsely furnished.
And although I never saw much of the other place, this house was something different.
God, if I lived here, I wouldn’t be very motivated to leave except to go to work.
I took a sip of my fresh drink. “Hmm. You did well convincing me to Uber here. This one is strong.”
He grinned. “You’re welcome to spend the night here, too, if you want. I’ve got plenty of rooms.”
“Oh, that is tempting.”
Wait, is he looking at my lips? Do I have something on them?
I quickly averted my gaze and lifted my hand to my mouth to check if I had flour sticking to it or something. Nope, nothing. Why was he looking at me, then? Whatever the reason, I felt warm all over.
“But I have to be at school early tomorrow morning, and it would take forever to make a detour to my place and grab everything I need.”
“All right. It’s just an offer.”
I sighed. “Knox, you’ve got such a beautiful home.”
“Thank you. I enjoy it too. I don’t spend too much time here, but who knows? Maybe things will change, and I’ll work more from home.”
I laughed. “I don’t see you as the work-from-home type. You’re too sociable.”
I nodded. “True. I thrive on being surrounded by people and love catching up with my team every day.”
Knox had always been down-to-earth. It was one of the first things that attracted me to him.
Not attracted, Amy. One of the things you liked about him.
This margarita was making it hard for me to keep my thoughts in check.
“Tell me about Jeremy,” I said. “I thought I might see him at your mom’s house.”
“Jeremy’s doing great. He was at a friend’s house, or you probably would have.”
“Is he still going to Ireland in the summers? I don’t remember if he went last summer.”
“He goes every year. Although I have to say, I don’t think he really considers her his mother. Lately, he’s been calling her Shona, and he’s started calling Riley Mom. We were all surprised.”
I beamed. “Oh, that makes my heart happy. It means he trusts her.” I glanced down at my glass. It was already empty. Shit. “I think I need to sit down.”
Knox frowned. “Want me to get you something to eat?”
“What do you have?”
“I can make you a grilled cheese sandwich.”
My eyes widened. “That would be great!”
“You can sit there.” He pointed to a stool at the kitchen island. “Need my help to get there?”
“No. I’m not tipsy... yet. But I do need to eat something before it gets to my head for real.”
I walked with quick steps to the kitchen island. I felt Knox right behind me. He pulled the chair out and put a hand on my waist as I sat.
Oh, I was feeling warm again. Everywhere. Huh. This is an interesting day. I couldn’t understand why my body was out of whack like this. I mean, of course, Knox was sexy, but he’d always been that.
Only, as he walked past me and headed to the fridge, I realized something: His sex appeal was off the charts today. Was it the shirt he was wearing? Or the fact that he’d been baking with me?
“Stop it, Amy,” I mumbled to myself, watching him take out the cheeses and then one of those toasters where you could put in a whole sandwich.
He handed me a grilled cheese sandwich on a plate a few minutes later. “That’s what I call a quick dinner.”
I pressed my lips together. “Knox, you really should learn how to cook some things.”
“Are you volunteering to teach me?”
He was teasing, but my entire body wanted to say, “Yes, yes, I’ll teach you if it means I can come here every evening.”
I swallowed hard as I had a light bulb moment. I wasn’t more attracted to him than usual. I was just happy that he was okay. That was all.
I truly had been afraid of losing him when his mom told me what had happened, and I was immensely grateful that he was still with us and not badly hurt. Yeah, that was all this emotion was. I was sure of it.
I took a huge bite of my sandwich. “Oh my goodness. How is this so good? It’s just grilled cheese.”
He smirked. “‘Just grilled cheese,’ you say?”
“No, seriously, I watched you, and you just layered the cheeses on toast. But it’s better than any other grilled cheese I’ve ever had.”
“The secret is in the ingredients.”
“Ah, yeah. But the toast is good too.”
“It’s sourdough bread—sliced toast.”
I blinked. “Knox, since when are you such a food connoisseur? It’s only been a year since I last saw you, not ten.”
“I’ve been a food snob for some time now. You just missed the transition, since we don’t really spend time together like this anymore.”
That was true. Whenever we saw each other, it was in the city to grab a quick drink or something quick to eat.
We never hung out like this at each other’s places.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been to his old loft, and I’d practically never invited him to my house.
No, wait. I actually did invite him once, when I first moved in, because I realized I was in the same neighborhood as his mom.
I told him he could drive by whenever he was visiting her, but somehow that never happened.
“So, this is sourdough bread, huh? I’m shocked that I didn’t even notice it.”
“It does change the taste when it’s toasted.”
“True. Haven’t tried making sourdough yet. You gave me an idea. Even though it takes a long time. But that’s fine. I only have two passions in life: baking and kids.”
Knox laughed. “Still dreaming about having, what was it, three kids?”
My eyes went wide. “You remember that?”
“Obviously. You told me that while we were busy cramming for an exam, and I remember thinking, ‘Who the hell knows how many kids they want to have?’”
I blinked. “Everyone.”
“That’s not true.”
“Of course everyone sort of knows. “
“I don’t,” he said.
I shook my head. “That’s just not possible. How can you not know?”
“Never thought about it. I just figured things will happen the way they will.” After a pause, he added, “Nah. You’re right. I’ve always known that I won’t be having any. It’s not the lifestyle I want.”
“Really? Are you telling me you’re going to be an eternal bachelor, but you bought this huge beachfront mansion? I can see a couple of kids messing this place up.”
I looked around, and a fully formed vision appeared in my mind: rambunctious boys, looking like Knox, running around while their very stylish mom told them to behave.
A rush of unexpected jealousy shot through me at the thought.
Holy shit. I’m definitely losing my mind.
“Nah. Jeremy already does that, and I’m sure Chase and the rest are planning on having kids as well. They’re all welcome here.”
“You’ve always been good with kids. Why don’t you want any of your own?” I went on. Why couldn’t I just let this drop? “Or is it the marriage part you don’t want?”
“You know my views on that.”
I groaned. “Oh, come on, Knox. Views can change.”
“Well, mine don’t.” I could tell by his tone that he was done with this conversation.
“Fair enough.”
As I finished my sandwich, I started to feel much better. I glanced at the oven.
“Want to check on that?” Knox asked, clearly seeing where I was looking.
“No. I’m fairly confident that it needs exactly forty minutes. I don’t like to check too often because it messes up the temperature.”
“You’re the boss. So, how is your...” He paused before saying, “dating plan? Still going on that date on Thursday?”
He had a peculiar look in his eyes.
“Yes.”
It felt odd to admit it to him, like I was doing something wrong—which I absolutely wasn’t.
“And you’re looking forward to it?”
That look was starting to become even more intense. My first instinct was to tell him that it wasn’t really any of his business, but on the other hand, I had just grilled him about not wanting to get married, so I wasn’t one to talk.
“I am, actually. We chatted a bit online, and he seems like a good fit.”
“Tell me about him,” Knox said.
He took the cheese back out of the fridge, and I realized he was making another sandwich.
“I can make that for you. Damn it, I came here to take care of you, and you ended up feeding me.”
He looked at me strangely. “You don’t need to look after me. I feel fine. Tell me about the guy.” His voice had an edge I’d never heard from him before.
“He’s thirty-four. An accountant.”
Knox snorted.
“What?”
“Boring.”
“He’s not boring.”
“What did you talk about in your messages?” He said the word as if there was something wrong with it.
“Books and—”
“Yep. Boring.”
“Hey, I happen to like books. When I told him that, we talked about what my latest read was, and...”
“And what was it?”
I bit the inside of my cheek and then started to laugh. “Actually, it was a very, very trashy thriller, and before you ask how it’s possible for a thriller to be trashy, just believe me, this one was. But he said he likes classics, so I told him I read some Charles Dickens.”
Knox burst out laughing. “And you see nothing wrong with that?”
“I have read Charles Dickens at some point.”
“But you didn’t tell him the truth.”
I nodded sheepishly. “You’re right. I wanted to impress him.”
As he turned around to put the sandwich in the toaster, I got a good look at his back. God, those muscles. And his jeans fit his ass perfectly. I sighed, trying to remember what we were talking about.
“Dating is hard,” I blurted.
He turned around. Yep, his front was even more impressive. I mean, I’d always known that. But I couldn’t ogle him when he was facing me. I had to be sneaky and find an opportunity later.
I was just making sure every part of him was doing well after the accident. That was all.
“Then why do you do it? Just quit.”