Seeing her eyes trail down my entire naked body before the showers sent an ache through me I had to force myself not to do anything about until we got home. Then her licking her lips sealed the deal. My brain did nothing but think about those lips for the rest of the day.
I hadn’t realized I had been staring at her butt until I blinked and she was looking at me with an arched eyebrow. “You okay over there?”
I shook my head and signed, “Yeah. Sorry. Spaced out for a second. I’m going to take Duke for a walk. Want to come?”
She frowned, picking up her yoga mat and rolling it up. I supposed yoga was done. “I wish I could. I’ve got to open today. The construction team will be there early, and Drea’s going with Blair to her therapy appointment, so she won’t be in until later.”
“I’m glad she’s still going to therapy. I feel like it’s been helping her. No worries. Have fun.”
She smiled. “I agree, and thanks, you too. See you tonight?”
I nodded and got up to get Duke ready for our walk. We’d miss her, but I understood work had to come first sometimes. “Have a good day at work.” She gave me one of her heartwarming smiles, and I had to turn away. The last thing I needed was more warm and confusing feelings toward her.
I decided to dress a little nicer than I normally would on a walk. Maybe I’d stop by the queer coffee shop on my way home and see if anyone caught my eye. A distraction would be good, and it had been a while since I’d had a date. It could be good for me and for my friendship with Kaia. If she knew the thoughts I’d had about her since she moved in, she wouldn’t stay much longer. That was the last thing I wanted.
Chapter Twelve
KAIA
Daisy woke me up at six in the freaking morning.On my day off! She demanded I get out of bed, with the promise of breakfast, but said we had an eventful day that needed to start before the sun was even up.
How could I have said no when she was standing above me, smiling her freaking sunflower smile when I opened my eyes? I couldn’t have. That was the answer.
Groaning, I pulled myself out of bed and followed her to the kitchen, where she had the table set up with way too much breakfast food for two people.
“The table?” I asked.
She nodded. “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and we need all the fuel we can get to start ours.”
Smiling, I sat down in my usual spot at the table, and my mouth started watering as I looked at the spread she’d prepared for us.
Cinnamon roll pancakes with a cream cheese frosting instead of syrup. Cheesy eggs and bacon. And avocado toast.
“Damn, sunny, what’s the special occasion? This all looks delicious.”
She smiled triumphantly. “I know. I got carried away.”
“I’m not judging. Get carried away anytime.”
I took a bite of the pancakes, and my eyes involuntarily rolled to the back of my head. “Oh my God. These are amazing.” When my eyes met Daisy’s, she was blushing, and I didn’t exactly know why.
She didn’t respond for a while, and I had to wave my hand across her face. She looked as if she was daydreaming about something.
She shook her head, coming back to the present. “Sorry. I’m glad you like them.”
She licked her lips and started eating her breakfast without anotherword. I didn’t know what that was about, but the food was so good that I didn’t want to ask.
After devouring our plates and refilling our orange juice, Daisy smiled at me with her famous sunflower smile. “I want to leave in about an hour. Is that okay? Will you be ready by then?”
“That works for me. What’s this big plan you have for us today, anyway?”
Her look told me she was up to no good. I trusted her with my life, but that didn’t mean I wasn’t a little on edge not knowing what was going to happen.
“Well, I’ve been thinking about the other day when we were reading together.”
My fork fell onto my plate, and my face instantly flushed. I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her words since that day, but why was she bringing it up? Was she going to call me out on my staring? And what about our pickleball game? Hopefully she wasn’t going to bring up the showers, or what happened the night before. I didn’t think I could handle talking about it.
“I told you I was going to make it my mission to give you the childhood you deserve, and I was serious, Kaia. Today is ‘make Kaia’s younger heart happy’ day, starting with eating breakfast together at the table.”
