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HUDSON
Waiting sucked.
I was cooking at the restaurant. The quicker I prepared the order, the sooner I had an excuse to venture up front to where Eugene was.
It had been a few weeks since Holly and Roger stayed the night, and things were good with Eugene. She smiled a lot, which sent my heart into a frenzy. Nothing had changed between us, though. In fact, there might be some distance. Eugene still read downstairs and ate the food I cooked. We talked about work, Max, and food, but nothing to ease the distance. She hadn’t been telling me anything personal lately.
I was a starving man.
Being near her wasn’t enough. I wanted to peek inside her brain and discover all her secrets. Her smiles were slowly killing me. She was a sweetheart, giving that beautiful beam to everyone. I wanted her to give me something,anythingto claim as mine. A secret beam with a wink or slipping her fingers between mine when no one was around. Even better, her being completely mine. How did I make her love me?
That’s what I truly desired. For her to see how perfect we were together.
I sighed.
“You’re going to scorch the milk!” Grandma yelled, knocking me out of my thoughts.
Glancing down at the pot, I saw the milk bubbling over and swore. After removing it from the burner, I stirred the milk, but it was ruined. “Fuck. It’s got to be thrown out.”
In my peripheral view, I saw Grandma put a hand on her hip. “What in tarnation are ya sighing about? You’re wasting ingredients.”
Daisy and Randall peeked across the kitchen, snickering until I scowled.
“I don’t know what I’m doing wrong,” I said low enough that only Grandma would hear as I dumped the milk in the sink.
“What do you mean ya don’t know? Ya let it boil too long.”
Ignoring her, I rubbed my neck and glared at the burnt milk at the bottom of the pot. “Maybe I’m not doing enough,” I said. “She’s not coming downstairs when her hair is wet again.”
“Huh?” Grandma stepped closer. “I take it you’re not talking about the milk.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “Aren’t you supposed to be meddling? What happened to the whole I-need-a-wife-and-you-need-grandkids thing?”
She quirked a brow. “Ya get mad when I say anything.”
That was true, but only because I didn’t want her bothering Eugene about me. The situation had changed. I was contemplating sending Grandma to speak to Eugene. Did Eugene like me at all? Maybe Grandma could convince her that I was a great fucking man. Shit. I had no shame. The clumsy creature in my home was melting away at my resolve to give her time. Our friendship was amazing, but I wanted more of her. My fingers itched in her presence. I wanted to touch her so damn badly all the time. It was hard to find excuses to get close to Eugene.
Fuck. I was a total creep for her. Maybe she wouldn’t mind. Or maybe I should have admitted I might be in love with the beautiful woman in my home and didn’t know how to act on it.
“I don’t want you to try to hook me up with any woman that crosses my path,” I admitted.
“I haven’t tried lately,” she fired back. “I’ve been too busy helping you find all these books for Eugene.”
Grandma had no idea how much I appreciated her for helping with the search. Any time I found one of Eugene’s old books, I’d let Grandma know so she could cross it off the list. She’d do the same when she found one, so we didn’t end up getting the same book twice. “How many do we need before I’ll have them all for her?”
“Just a few more.”
Good.
I ran water into the pot, scratching my ear and shifting my boots. “…Do you still nag Eugene about me?”
Grandma laughed. “I might as well give up. She won’t budge at all. I don’t know how much more I can help when she refuses to claim ya as hers. No matter what I say or offer, she doesn’t seem to want ya.”
Sue cackled worse when I frowned.
“Oh, yeah. That’s the reason I came into the kitchen. I forgot to tell you.”
“What?”
