Page 76 of Perfect Pairing
“Yes, Ezra,” she said softly. “You can sample the cobbler when I’m done.”
With a curt nod, I turned back to the stove, the swirling of the squash soup around my wooden spoon mirroring my spinning thoughts.
I should never have agreed to this, should never have let Delia push Brie into letting me use her kitchen. After my errant comment, Brie was more closed off than ever, and the tension in the room was thick as butter. It seemed I couldn’t stop fucking up where she was concerned, and I was beginning to lose hope of ever winning her back.
Unfortunately, food prep wasn’t something I could rush. I couldn’t decide I was done, tuck my tail between my legs, and run. I had to stay here, feeling every second of the awkwardness like a knife to the heart.
Where the silence before had been…not quite companionable,but easier, now it was painfully loud. I actually breathed a sigh of relief when I finished the last bit of prep I needed for the next day. I moved to the sink to wash my hands, and as I wiped them dry, Brie spoke.
“It’s ready if you still want a taste.”
My head shot up, and I spun toward her so fast, I nearly tripped over my own two feet.
The words had been soft, barely above a whisper, but they were an olive branch.
I willed myself to cross the room slowly, to not appear too eager and scare the shit out of her. I knew it wouldn’t take much for her to disappear upstairs and lock me out of her life again.
In front of her sat two dishes, each laden with a perfectly round apple cobbler, the scent of cinnamon rising into the air, mixing with the fragrant vanilla of the scoop of ice cream and reminding me far too much of the way Brie’s skin smelled.
She handed me a spoon and, without another word, dug into her own dessert. I watched raptly as she chewed and savored, eyes closing in bliss.
I loved that she loved her own food so much, that even sampling her own creations elicited this sort of reaction from her.
When her eyes popped open and she caught me staring, I didn’t look away.
“Aren’t you going to try it?” she asked, tilting her head to the side.
“Sure.” I lifted the little plate from the counter and scooped off a spoonful of ice cream with the cobbler. Eyes never straying from hers, I opened my mouth and closed my lips around the bite. Immediately, a riot of sensations exploded on my tongue.The creaminess of the ice cream next to the rougher, crunchy granola topping. The warm, soft apples juxtaposed against the cold, frozen treat. Cinnamon and sugar and warm vanilla.
It was heaven on a spoon, and I couldn’t stop the groan that emanated from deep in my chest.
“Good?” Brie asked, her tone low and husky.
“Fucking amazing, Brie,” I said. “But you already knew that.”
She shrugged. “You know your opinion matters to me.”
“Still?” I asked, incredulous.
Another upward hitch of her shoulder. “Always.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that. I could only watch her, my eyes darting over her face, tracing every single one of her freckles, sweeping across every lash, searching for the falsity of her words.
All I found was the truth.
Unbidden, my hand reached out and tucked a lock of dark brown hair behind her ear. She leaned into my touch only slightly when my palm cupped her cheek, those emerald eyes tracking my every move. I didn’t miss the way her pulse strummed rapidly against the delicate skin of her neck, as though she was waiting.
I’d be an absolute fucking dumbass not to take the opening.
Shuffling forward a step, I closed the distance between us until our bodies almost touched, backing her against the counter. Each inhale had the tips of her breasts ghosting against my chest, and I sighed sharply through my nose, sliding my hand down her throat until it rested where her shoulder curved up to meet it.
She didn’t stop me as I leaned in…
But she turned her head at the last second so my lips collided with the soft surface of her cheek.
Eyesbright with an emotion I couldn’t name—pain? sadness?—Brie ducked away from me and stalked to the other side of the room, putting the island between us.
“I told you not to do that again.”
