“Nope.”
“None?”
“Well, I could do without beige.”
He rolled his eyes.
“So, tell me Atticus Dutch…why are you in New York anyway? Relocating for a different change of pace?”
He didn’t answer right away and I was afraid that I’d skipped right over the line of what we should talk about. But after a few bites, he met my gaze. “My editor and publishing house sent me here to finish my book.”
“Having some writer’s block? Is that what they call it?”
“Something like that.”
“Can I help?”
“It’s not something anyone can help with.”
“Are you sure? Sometimes a different point of view makes all the difference.”
The timer for the pizza went off. Dutch stood. “I’ll get it.”
I sighed. I didn’t want to ruin the day poking at him. It was a rare thing for me to have any sort of creative block. For me, it was harder to turn things off.
I got tunnel vision on a project and lost time for huge stretches of time.
But I also knew all creatives had a different process.
Maybe what he needed from me was to actually empty his brain. I got up and rounded my kitchen island. He’d taken the pizza out, but it was too hot to cut yet.
I pulled the pizza cutter out of his hand and set it aside, then drew him away from the butcher block.
“Phoebe, I know you’re just trying to?—”
I put my finger over his lips. “No helping.”
He frowned down at me.
I went up on my toes. “Just this.” I kissed his chin. The dense hair of his beard tickled my nose and lips.
He was still rigid. Whatever pain he was dealing with was so ingrained at this point, he couldn’t set it aside.
I toyed with the hair at his nape, drawing him down to me. I brushed my lips over his, easy as a sunny afternoon with no problems.
Even if he didn’t believe it, I offered it.
“No strings,” I whispered against his mouth. I slid my fingers over his shoulders and down his torso to wrap around his waist before I pressed my cheek against his chest. His heart was galloping. “Just let yourself forget for a while.”
The tension in his shoulders melted as he slipped an arm around me.
I listened to his heartbeat slow as he drew in a ragged breath.
When he rested his cheek against the top of my head, I felt the shift.
This time it was inside me.
I was going to fall in love with this man.
