A couple of hours must have passed because the next thing I knew, I was startled by the sound of Kelly announcing, “It smells amazing in here!”
Glancing up from where I was decanting hazelnut chocolate swirl muffins onto a rack to cool, I found Kelly standing in her school uniform, Murray with her, both looking around in amazement. Every inch of the kitchen was covered in baked goods in different stages of progress.
Murray strode into the music room to lower the volume on the mixed playlist I’d moved onto. He returned, his expression intense.
I shrugged sheepishly. “Sorry. I, uh, totally forgot to put stuff in the honesty box this morning and people were kind of pissed, so I promised to put stuff in there tomorrow morning.”
“People were pissed?” Murray’s tone was slightly dangerous.
“Drunk?” Kelly wrinkled her nose.
The corner of her dad’s mouth lifted. “No, m’eudail. We say pissedoff, Americans say pissed.”
“Oh.” Kelly leaned into him to whisper comically, “Does London know it means drunk here?”
“I do, but I keep forgetting.” I moved the racks of muffins to the side before turning to check on the millionaire’s shortbread I had cooling in the fridge. I’d fallen in love with millionaire’s shortbread when I moved here and developed my own salted caramel version. It was usually the first product to be bought out in the honesty box.
“What are those?” Kelly’s voice sounded right at my ear, causing me to jump and almost drop the tray of shortbread. “Oops, sorry.”
Pulling back, I realized she was gesturing to the trays of butter. “Those are the butter blocks for the croissants.” I gestured with the tray to the row of dough that was resting on the far counter. “Croissants take days and I forgot to prep them, so these are for Saturday.”
“I didn’t know they took that long.” I could feel father and daughter watching me as I broke up chocolate into a bowl atop a pot on the hob. Looking over my shoulder at them, I grimaced, “Sorry if I’m in the way.”
“You’re not,” Murray said at the same time Kelly replied, “No way, this is cool. It smells so good.”
She eyed the cooling muffins.
“Do you want one?”
Kelly grinned, and it was so lovely seeing her face light up like that. “May I?”
“Grab one for your dad too. They’re still a little warm.”
“Even better.” Kelly moved around the kitchen to grab a couple of plates as I stirred the melting chocolate.
The hair on the nape of my neck rose as Murray neared. Then, even over the heady smells of my baking, I inhaled his familiar scent. A shiver prickled down my spine at the touch of his large hand on my lower back as he leaned into murmur in my ear, “We need to talk after.”
My breath caught, hyperawareness flushing through me as I turned my head ever so slightly to meet his gaze. An inappropriately timed throb between my thighs made my cheeks heat. “O-okay?”
Murray’s beautiful eyes washed over my face. “You feeling all right?”
I’d considered not telling him about Nick, but I didn’t want to stay on this merry-go-round of secret guardedness with him. Even if we weren’t in a relationship, we were supposed to be friends. “I have to tell you something.”
“Ramsay told me. I tried to get over to check on you, but …” Murray pulled back, looking away.
“What are you guys whispering about?” Kelly asked loudly. “Is it about me?”
My lips twitched and Murray saw my amusement. His own glimmered as he pulled back and wandered over to Kelly. “I was just telling London that she can’t keep tempting us with all this sugar.”
“Why not? I’m fine with it.”
Even though I was a little thrown that Murray already knew about my panic attack, I couldn’t help but giggle at Kelly’s response.
Murray chuckled. “Noted.”
Kelly’s answer was a muffled gargle. As I took the chocolate off the heat to pour over the caramel and shortbread, I saw her chewing on the muffin, rolling her eyes as if she was in ecstasy. Murray heard my laugh and his expression warmed with tenderness.
“Dad … oh my God, you need to try it. London, if you weren’t already married to my dad, I’d be proposing right now.”
