Page 38 of Henhouse
“I’m glad you agree.” Effie laughed. He took another bite, and the rumble from his throat was almost certainly meant to mimic a different kind of satisfaction. “They aren’tthatgood.”
“Try telling my taste buds.” He paused a long moment, challenging Effie’s nerves with his gaze before he said, “Thank you. No one’s ever baked for me before.”
“No?”Were there other ways people showed affection?Because Effie baked to make you feel better, to spread good cheer, to tell you she cared.
“It’s a rarity for someone to have your skill sets and be age-appropriate for me to date,” he teased, his voice smooth as butter.
“You have an uncanny habit of making me wonder if I should be offended.”
“I never mean any offense, sunshine.” He grinned and side-eyed Effie like he waited to see if she’d object to the pet name.
“Vast improvement from eggplant.”
“I do aim to please.” He turned pensive. “What does sunshine taste like?”
“Orange mango juice.” Theo scrunched his face, apparently not a fan of such a combination. “I like it!” And she did. It tasted like a vacation on the beach and the rich hues of sunset and the passion that tropical paradises promised.Maybe the latter had more to do with who called her sunshine.
“Well, that’s all that matters then.”
Theo balled their trash and tucked it into the to-go bag from their lunch. In one swift, expert move he put his arm around Effie and pulled her in close. She instinctively tensed, her stomach thrown into her throat. She was not well-versed in all the little ways you might touch or hold or shower affection on someone. It had her tingling at every touch and wondering if he could tell her heart was off to the Kentucky Derby.
Theo leaned over, lifting her opposite hand to reach his that draped over her shoulder and intertwined their fingers.Were her hands sweaty? God, why was this so nerve-wracking?
But Theo met her gaze, raised his brows in warning or jest, and kissed the top of her head, and her stomach settled.
Effie couldn’t help but notice that when she looked into his eyes,she wasn’t nervous at all. It was the not knowing where his hands might roam, or his lips, or where he wanted them to go that had her insides roiling.What was it he’d said about her sign as an Aquarius? That it could manifest in thinking too much about everything?Maybe it was that, but the ease with which they started seeing each other had her wary too.
In all of her imaginings, she’d have to become someone outgoing and bold with the constitution of a woman who made dating a sport in order to find a relationship. Instead, it nearly fell into her lap. She couldn’t have been more grateful for how normal it felt to sit beside Theo on a park bench, the sun beating down on them on a breezy day in May. Butterfly-riddled belly aside. But it didn’t change the fact that it somehow felttoosmooth a transition.
Effie let her head relax onto Theo’s shoulder, which was easy given how much taller he was than her. She rolled her head to the side so she could look him in the eye once more.
He had a face that yearned to be photographed. Not in a stylized model kind of way, but in candid moments that captured the dreamy stare she’d noticed him give the leaves on the trees and the sun as it broke through fluffy clouds. Or that caught him flashing a genuine smile that rendered him most handsome. Maybe it was his shampoo or cologne or even his laundry detergent, but some amazing scent drew her in. The taut waffle weave of his shirt over his broad shoulders had her fluttering for totally different reasons. Effie held those hazel eyes in hers and thought maybe she was already falling for him. “I kind of like you,” she offered. The thump of her heart suggested instead that she just confessed she was enamored, buying a wedding dress, and planning to have lots of sex and babies with him.
“I kind of like you too, sunshine,” he whispered, a broad smile on his lips. He planted them on hers and the air rushed from Effie’s lungs. She didn’t think it would ever stop being a shock to her system when their breath mingled and his lips claimed hers. It was exciting and intoxicating, and she could pretend she did it with confidence until it became true.
Effie never used to understand PDA. She thought people had short leashes on their libido and might do well to take a cold shower if they couldn’t go a few hours in public without shoving their tongues down each other’s throats.
But here, now, with Theo at the tip of her tongue, she wasn’t sure why anyone did anything but kiss on park benches, in the light of day, for all the world to see.
I still love you.
The words were a relief, even if Brayden harbored his own ill feelings about Hope’s behavior as of late. He knew something besides Chloe had been bothering her to have altered their dynamic so drastically.
A phone call before Sunday might have been nice.
A quick update over text.
But Hope wanted to wait until they were in person to share everything. Maybe she feared he wouldn’t hear her out if they weren’t face to face. She should know him better than that. It saddened him to think that she could ever conceive of a world where he was a cheater, where he wouldn’t give her space to say her piece, where he would dismiss her so coolly as shehad him.
The email came at the exact right time. He’d been toiling all week, fighting for ground in his divorce battle, but with each meeting, each mediation, all he saw was the life he imagined slipping through his fingers. It was excruciating to be at Chloe’s mercy. Even more so was the truth that he had been so wrapped up in her, so in love that he never even noticed he wasn’t what she wanted. He wasn’t the prize. The week of mediation had done a lot to quell his anger with Hope, if only because he would have stayed the hell away if he could have too.
I still love you. Well, so did he. That’s why he’d made up his mind almost instantly upon reading Hope’s email that he would meet her on Sunday afternoon. He didn’t feel her note required a response. She wanted to set a time and place? Then he’d tease out the rom-com nature of the encounter and let her wait and see if he showed, if only for the flirtation of it. He could be coy when he wanted to. Maybe it wouldn’t kill him to play a little hard to get either.
That thought had him rolling his eyes at himself as he hefted another fire extinguisher onto the cart beside his van. He preferred to roll a stock of them through facilities like this, so he didn’t have to make twenty trips out to the van or make detailed notes of what rooms had out-of-date equipment along the way. He generally had to replace at least three extinguishers in a place this size, so he packed six.
He loaded his forms and iPad onto the top shelf of the cart and wheeled the whole thing up the handicap ramp to the gleaming glass doors. The automatic slider opened to let him inside. He stopped at the front desk to talk with the receptionist.
“I have to check the entire building for safety code violations and make sure all of your equipment is up to date. Is the first floor clear, or are any of the rooms occupied?”
