I tipped my head back and groaned. “And I was just telling your nosy wife that I don’t have time.”
“You have nothing except time.” Mattie reached into a cupboard and pulled out two mugs before handing me one.
“Thanks for that,” I said flatly, taking the mug.
“Mattie, this is Oliver. Ollie, this is my wife, Mattie.” Giles pointed the spatula he was using to scramble some eggs between the two of them.
“Thanks again for all the hospitality.” Oliver reached out to shake Mattie’s hand. “And it’s good to finally meet you. Giles says great things.”
Mattie squeezed Giles’s shoulder. “I would hope so. Butseriously, thank you so much for coming. We never thought we’d find an advanced instructor to replace Johnny this late in the season.”
“Happy to be here,” Oliver said.
“And this is Mattie’s sister, Frankie. She’s staying with us for…well, I guess I don’t know exactly how long.” Giles sounded a bit worried about the idea of an open-ended visit.
“Frankie, huh?” Oliver stroked his chin, assessing me.
“Don’t worry, I’m not moving in or anything,” I said to Giles, ignoring Oliver and moving straight for the coffee machine.
I could feel Oliver’s eyes on me as I filled my mug from the carafe. When I met his gaze, he still wore a smug smile, clearly waiting for me to say something.
“Um, can I talk to you over there?” I asked, pointing through the small dining room to the living room.
“Me?” Oliver pointed at his chest.
“Him?” Giles looked between the two of us.
“Yep.”
“Sure.” Oliver pushed himself off the counter and led the way into the other room.
As soon as we stepped into the living room, he spun around. Damn it, he looked good. Even better than I remembered from last night. The dim bar lights and my tequila haze had not done him justice at all.
“Look,” I started.
“Nice hair.” He surprised me by grabbing a piece of hair by my face and twisting it between his fingers.
I blanched before raising my own hand to my head. I could feel the frizziness of my messy bun. Any attempt to smooth it down would be pointless.
“Sorry we can’t all look perfect in the morning,” I mumbled.
“You think I look perfect?” he teased. Why did he have to be so obnoxiously endearing?
I took a sip of coffee to distract myself. “Okay,” I started again, but he still interrupted me.
“Is this the part where you ask me not to tell anyone what happened last night?” he asked.
“What?”
“You know. The part where you’re embarrassed by what happened last night and you don’t want anyone to know we made out so you ask me to keep it a secret. But of course, we’ll inevitably slip up and everyone will find out anyway.”
“I told Mattie like the second I saw you,” I said flatly.
His forehead creased. “Oh.”
I let out a small laugh. “Did you think this was one of those movies where the main characters can’t communicate and cause all this unnecessary drama?”
He tilted his head, still smiling. “Maybe. Sounds like fun.”
