“Yeah, everything is good. Promise.”
And Gard’s worry unclenched a little, because he trusted Lia’spromise.
“Are you surethat’s going to taste good?” Lia asked speculatively. Most of her kitchen talents were of the sugar-and-butter variety. She liked to bake. She liked dessert and dessert masquerading as breakfast.
But this complicated cheese sauce Sammy was attempting… This was why Lia didn’t like to cook. Cheese on its own? Good. Cheese when you mixed it into weird configurations? Possibly not good. Sugar and butter baked together? Pretty muchalwaysgood.
But Sammy gave her a sharp, disgusted look. Her eyes were still a little puffy from the earlier crying jag, but she was much more back to herself.
“I had higher hopes for your palate, Lia.”
Lia rolled her eyes. She was sitting at the kitchen table, which gave her a view of what Sammy was doing in the small kitchen on the other side of the counter. She felt awkward being in Gard’s house without him here, but she wasn’t leaving the teen alone. And Sammy didn’t seem towantto be alone.
So Lia sat at the table, hands in her lap, trying not to look around and study every inch of Gard’s house. She couldn’t say it had a ton of personality to make determinations about. The colors were nice, maybe a little matchy-matchy. The walls were pretty bare, but everything was…cozy. Despite the lack of decor, it did feel like someone reallylivedhere.
The doorknob jiggled and Lia sat up straighter, nerves suddenly battling around for purchase.Whyhadn’t she just driven back to the bakery? Sure, it would have tacked on driving time for everyone, but…
The door opened and Gard stepped inside, wearing that damn uniform that was supposed to be an immediate turnoff. His hair was a little mussed, which was when she realized it was getting a little long for him. It was even starting to kind of curl.
Their eyes met briefly. Gard smiled. Lia smiled.
Oh hell.
“Well, something smells…” He hesitated ever so briefly before he aimed that smile at Sammy. “…good.”
He was a liar. It didnotsmell good. But Lia was happy to get out of Dodge without dealing with that.
“I better get going,” she said brightly, making a move to grab her purse that she’d set on the coffee table.
But Gard stood in her way, and Sammy bustled in from the kitchen.
“You have to stay,” Sammy said, pointing at the table. “There are three plates.”
“Oh, I—”
“I’m afraid it’s the law, and I am here to enforce the law.” Gard grinned at her. “Let me go change and wash up. Be right back.”
He disappeared down the hall and Lia didn’t realize she’d watched him walk away until she looked back at the kitchen to find Sammy studying her.
Heat crept up her cheeks. What the hell was she doing? It was really getting to be too much. Complicated. Messy. But Sammy was bustling around the kitchen and Lia didn’t want to hurt her feelings—even if she was afraid the ambitious cheese sauce was going to be a nightmare.
So she sat back down at the table a bit helplessly. Sammy had everything all set up before Gard returned. He was in casual clothes now—jeans, a sweatshirt. His hair was wet like he’d run through the shower.
He moved to the table, his hand drifting over Sammy’s head as he moved to his seat. Just a casual, affectionate gesture that made Lia’s heart feel too big for her chest.
That big soft heart is going to get very, very bruised if you’re not careful, Lia.
Gard led the conversation, asking Sammy about her day. Sammy lied, bald-faced that everything at the bakery had been fine and uneventful. Lia kept her mouth shut. She wasn’t sure covering for Sammy was the best course of action, but she wasn’t sure it…wasn’t. It wasn’t like something had really happened or changed. Sammy had just…let some of her feelings out. Did Gard really need to know every detail of that?
But Gard was too observant not to realize something had changed between when he’d dropped her off in the morning—angry and yelling—and now, with her cheerfully making a…truly terrible dinner.
“This isn’t half bad,” Gard said with a smile that wasfake.
Because the food wasn’t half good either, but Lia dutifully choked down a few terrible bites, before Sammy sighed gustily.
“Okay, this sucks.”
Gard laughed, the sound low and rich. “You’ll get ’em next time, kid. Can’t learn if you don’t practice and experiment.” Sammy shoved her plate away dejectedly as Gard got to his feet. “No worries. There’s always backup.”
