Page 46 of Chance of Romance
He texted Claire.Sabrina’s here cooking dinner. You have some kind of built-in sound system?
Claire:Yes! The control is over in the sitting area in the white cabinet. Good luck!
He stared at his phone and quickly texted back.Good luck?
Claire:Ciao!
Did Claire want him to be with Sabrina? He hadn’t even told her he’d ended it with Olivia. Or had Sabrina confided in Claire that she was into him?
He glanced over at Sabrina, who was pounding the shit out of the chicken breast with a meat tenderizer.
She looked over at him, smiling. “This is very therapeutic!”
“If you say so.” He headed over to the sitting area in search of the music control.
“Salad is over here!” she caroled.
“I’m getting your music going. Claire told me it’s in here.”
“Okeydokey.”
He chuckled to himself. She was so cute when she was tipsy. A few minutes later, he got the music going. Slow jazz.Aw, yeah.Mood music.
He returned to the kitchen, and Sabrina pointed to a colander on the counter. “Rinse, dry, and rip the lettuce into bite-size pieces.”
“Bossy.”
She used the side of her arm to push a lock of hair out of her face, her hands covered in flour, which she was dredging the chicken in. “Chef rules the kitchen, minion.”
He closed the distance between them and smoothed the errant lock of hair behind her ear before leaning down to whisper, “I get that. I like to be in charge sometimes too.”
Her head whipped toward his, her eyes wide. “Are you referring to a, um, different room in the house?” Her voice got high and squeaky at the end there.
He leaned against the counter next to her. “Have you ever thought about you and me?”
She turned from him, staring at the chicken, her cheeks flushed pink. “Have you?”
“I’m starting to.”
“Oh.”
“Well?”
She met his eyes. “I’m not exactly starting to.”
He straightened. “Got it.” Good thing he checked in before crossing that line. That could’ve really backfired on him, tanking their friendship, making everything awkward as hell. He went to the sink and got to work on the salad.
Sabrina wasn’t moving, just standing there, staring at the chicken.
“That chicken’s not going to cook itself,” he teased.
She shook her head. “I spaced out. Lo-o-o-ng day. Back to work.”
They worked in silence, the music relaxing, the champagne having done its part. He caught her watching him several times, probably because he kept sneaking peeks at her. A few times she opened her mouth and then shut it again. Probably trying not to boss him so much since he’d teased her about it. Friends was not the worst thing in the world. It wasn’t like he was desperate or anything. Maybe once the champagne wore off, she’d go back to her untouchable porcelain-doll self and he wouldn’t even be tempted.
~ ~ ~
An hour later, Sabrina served up dinner and carried two plates to the dining area, where Logan was already seated at the round wooden table. She was kicking herself for her completely unflirty response to Logan’s question.Have you ever thought about you and me?Why hadn’t she just said the truth? Yes! Way too much! Her response, while honest, hadn’t moved things forward. She wasn’tjust startingto think about the two of them, she’d been thinking about them since the first time he’d stepped foot in her office six and a half lust-filled months ago, leaned one muscular arm against the door frame, smiled his gorgeous smile, and told her they’d be neighbors.
