Page 42 of Surprised By Love

“I love this,” Sam says as she points to the mahogany table and chairs sitting in front of a big open window with a view of the backyard. It’s a large table with seating for eight. The chairs have matching mahogany legs and give off a comfy look with its dove grey padding on the back and seat. “Are you not afraid of the kids messing up the chairs?”

“Yes,” I laugh. “That’s why we only use it when we have company. Most of the time it’s meals in the kitchen or occasionally in front of the tv.”

“Good plan,” Sam nods.

We turn to the left to continue the tour into the kitchen.

“This kitchen is amazing,” Sam says, her eyes wide.

“Thank you, I think this is my favourite room in the house.”

“I can see why. I would do anything to bake in this kitchen.” Sam turns her head to me.

“Really?” I raise an eyebrow.

Sam giggles, “You’re so bad.” She elbows me playfully in the stomach and all I want to do is pull her close and show her how bad I can be, but I need to show some self restraint.

“Then it’s a good thing it’s what we are going to do.” I wink at her and her cheeks flush. That has to be the most adorable thing ever.

She heads over to the big two-door stainless steel refrigerator, running her fingers over the stainless steel. I watch as she continues, reaching the range that’s two feet from the fridge. “Do you like these smooth top ranges?” she asks, turning to me.

“I do. They are so much easier to clean.” I grin.

“I can imagine so.” She turns back and walks to the corner of the L-shaped counter. “I love how the cupboards match the dining room set.” She tilts her head as she looks at the large spice rack sitting in the corner. “Do you have every spice known to man in this?” she laughs.

“No, but I enjoy cooking with spices.”

“You like to cook?”

I walk up behind her, needing to be near. “I love to cook, but baking, not so much.”

She turns and looks up at me. “Then I guess it’s a good thing I’m here.”

“I guess it is,” I say, looking into her beautiful hazel eyes. As she licks her lips, I can’t help but look down at them. My need to kiss her grows stronger. I can’t kiss her yet, it’s too soon. I take a step back, and I hear a soft groan slip past her perfect lips. Did she want me to kiss her? I shake off the thought and attempt to focus on the task at hand.

Baking.

Sam

“Alright. Let’s do this,” Josh says, heading to a door off to the side of the kitchen.

What in the world just happened? I swear he was just about to kiss me. The way he was looking at my lips. I may be out of practice, but I felt the tension between us. The sparks were flying. It was the perfect chance.

I shake my head, feeling a little defeated. Maybe Vicki and Becca were wrong after all.

I take a deep breath and steady my breathing before following Josh to the side door.

He opens the door to a walk-in pantry.

“Oh. Wow. This is amazing,” I say, as I take it all in. The one side holds every pot and pan you can think of and two baking sheets, a round and rectangular baking pan, a mini cupcake, muffin pan and one loaf pan. Definitely not a baker’s supply, but it has enough basics we can work with.

The other two walls are floor to ceiling, full of typical pantry items. Cans and jars full of sauces, vegetables and soups, condiments, pasta, peanut butter, cereal, microwave popcorn, chips, granola bars. There are not many baking supplies, but I guess that’s why he was shopping. If I had a pantry like this, it would be full of baking supplies and every type of pan and utensil I could find.

He turns to face me. “This is mostly my mom’s doing. I had some things, but every time she comes over, she brings more stuff. It’s like she’s afraid if it’s not full, we’re going to starve or something,” he chuckles, and the sound goes right to my heart.

I love hearing him laugh, and the way his eyes light up when he talks about his family. That’s the type of man I want. One who lights up at just the thought of the people he loves. I wonder what it would feel like to be loved by a man like that.

“Okay boss, what do we need from here?” he asks, facing the wall of pans.

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