Page 39 of Meet Me at the Fudge Shop

Seriously. Stop.

She glanced at him. “News flash: I can make more than fudge.” Lily waved her hand up and down to indicate the dusty appliance. “Mom bought this commercial ice cream maker at an auction, but it’s not working.”

“And you thought, hey, now’s a good time to fix it? When you’re in the middle of getting a fudge shop up and running?”

She stepped away from him, sighed. “I just…I just don’t want to think about fudge right now.” Her voice was quiet, and something about it sounded so lost.

Aw, and now again, he nearly reached out to her. She had a sort of terrible power over him—always had, really.

Nope. “What’s wrong with it?”

“It keeps shutting off too early.”

He rolled up his sleeves. “Can I take a look?”

“I really don’t need your help.”

He raised an eyebrow.

She sighed. “Fine. But I definitely can’t let you fix this without repaying you somehow.”

“Just what did you have in mind?” Oh—wait. No, that came out wrong.

Her eyes widened.

Aw. “Forget I said that. Really, let me help.”

Her lips pursed.

He held up his hands. “All right, all right. Look, if it makes you uncomfortable, I’ll just step aside and let you figure this one out yourself. Even though I know what’s probably wrong with it.”

She considered him for a long moment. Finally, “Fine. But in exchange, I’ll show you how toactuallymake fudge.”

“What are you talking about? I know how to make fudge. It’s simple. I have the family recipes. All I have to do is follow the directions.”

Except, inside he heard his own voice calling him a liar. He’d spent hours over the last two days, and thrown out more batches than he wanted to admit.

Lily studied him. “Some things in life don’t follow exactness and precision.”

Shewastalking about fudge, right?

“Isn’t that the point of the recipes? To recreate them again and again?”

“There are other factors you have to consider. Every batch of fudge is slightly different, and you kind of have to feel your way through the making of it. Do you think you can do that, Slick?” She added a smile, and his heart suddenly woke up and slammed against his chest.

He hadn’t actually forgotten how pretty she was. Just wanted to.

“So, can you?” Now, she cocked her head, raised an eyebrow, hands on her hips. “Feelit instead of think it to death? Or have you lost all sense of emotion?”

She must not have heard the way his heart beat wildly in his throat at her nearness or she’d never question his ability tofeel.

He swallowed, ignored her words. “So, you’ll really give me some fudge-making lessons if I fix your machine here?”

“Yes.” She stepped aside and flourished her arms toward the machine. “Have at it.”

He stepped past her, ignored the sense of her, standing too close, and ran his fingers across the control panel, his fingers searching its edge. “Do you have a screwdriver? I want to pop the control panel face off.”

“Hang on.” Lily opened a lower cabinet and rummaged around, emerging with a pink Tupperware toolbox. Opening it, she plucked a flathead from inside and handed it over.

---