AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She blushes, making me want to drag my fingers over her skin to see if it’s heated. Every time I’m around her, staying away from her gets harder. Since Jaxon’s party, I’ve asked myself why I wanted to in the first place. I understand that we’re neighbors, and there’s the potential fallout between us if things were to end badly, but I can’t help but wonder why they would. I’m an adult, she’s an adult, and there’s no reason we can’t continue to be adults in the end.
The oven beeps, and internally, I groan as she slips on an oven mitt and bends over to take out the first batch of cupcakes. The scent of cake batter and lemon fills the air. Delicious. I watch as she places it on the counter, grabs the next tin, and slides it into the oven. She sets the timer, throws the mitt on the counter, then turns to face me.
Silence passes between us as we stare at each other. I hope she’s over being mad at me for the fish.
“The wine cellar looks great,” I tell her as I point at it.
She glances at it and then smiles to herself, proud of it.
“Thanks. It turned out to be a bit harder to build out than I expected, but it looks so good.”
“It really does.”
It still amazes me that this gorgeous rich city girl spends all her time here in the house in the middle of nowhere doing projects by herself. I don’t even need to ask about the dining room’s new look—of course it was all her.
“Do you want a glass of wine?” she offers, almost like she’s unsure if she wants me to stay or possibly go.
“No, I’m good, thanks, but I see the Cheez-It box. Do you like these crackers?”
She looks over at the open box. The few crumbs on the counter next to it tell me she’s been eating them recently. Her cheeks flush as she rolls up the bag, seals the box, and pushes it up against the wall.
“I do. They’re like my one vice. Always have been. What’s yours?”
She’s defensive, and I’m not sure why. I’ve seen the box or other boxes of them each time I’ve snuck in to change the chirper battery, but I don’t want her to know that, and I see she’s turned the question back around on me.
“Cider. Hard cider. I think it’s delicious, and if it wasn’t for the alcohol and sugar content, I’d drink it with every meal.”
“It is pretty good,” she says, making my heart flop in my chest. I work hard at the cidery to make each one delicious, so to hear that she thinks they’re good makes me happy.
“How about you tell me what you’re working on. I see you bought a piano.” I look over in the direction of the music on the coffee table.
“I did. In the past, Avery, Emma, and I spent a lot of time together, whether we were on the road, in the city, or even here, but over the past two years, finding time for us to work on new music collectively has been hard.”
“I hear you playing your cello every night,” I tell her as I prop my hands behind me on the counter.
Her face jolts with surprise. “You do?”
I nod.
“I’m sorry.” She fidgets with the edge of the apron and wipes her hands across it.
“Don’t be. I love it. The sound echoes over the mountain, and it’s beautiful. I wish my mother was still here to hear it too.”
“That’s sweet,” she says, tucking a loose piece of hair behind her ear.
“What can I say? I’m a sweet guy.” I shrug, and she laughs.
“Sweet and sour at best,” she teases as she moves to the other counter to clean up some of the mess. My eyes drift down to her ass, the shorts are so tight and so tiny.
I clear my throat. “So you’re working on new music?” I force my eyes away, and they skip to the plant with the cricket chirper. It’s been moved a little to make room for the piano, and I don’t know how she didn’t see it, but she didn’t because it’s still there. I can see the edge of the sensor board sticking out.
“Yes,” she says, looking over at the pages and smiling. She’s proud of whatever she’s working on, and it makes me proud for her.
“Tell me about it. I don’t know much about the process of writing music, but I certainly appreciate it. Any titles?”
I want to keep her talking to me. I really have no reason to be here any longer since I gave her the flowers. Speaking of talking, who does she talk to? Every day, I talk to Cole and Jane, but she’s here by herself, and it’s kind of strange.
“I’m leaning toward Gold Horizons for the album cover, but I need to discuss it with the girls first.”
