“You were pushing me.”
I nod. “I was.”
“And it was mean.”
“It was,” I agree, and as she passes by me again, I grab her wrist, stopping her.
She’s soft beneath my fingers, her skin like velvet. Warm too.
She looks down at where my hand is curled around her, then back up at me, but she doesn’t pull away, and I don’t either.
Stop touching her, Ezra. She’s your employee.
I ignore myself.
“I’m sorry,” I tell her again. “I shouldn’t have done that, but Summer ... you’re incredible in the kitchen, you know that, right?”
She looks anywhere but at me as she shrugs. “I guess.”
“You guess?” I tug on her until she looks up at me because Ineedher to hear this next part. “There is no guessing, and you know it. Just like I know you know how much you enjoyed being in there. I have no idea what happened at your last job, but it’s obvious that whatever it was, it has you scared to try again, and that’s fucking heartbreaking. You’re too damn talented to let your passion fizzle out over one bad thing, and you’re too young to give up now.”
“I’m not that young.”
“You’re twenty-six. Talk to me when you’re thirty-four and your dream is nothing but a distant memory.”
As if I need the reminder, my hip throbs, and I swallow down the pain—the physical and the emotional.
“Anyway, you can’t just give up. I know you want to, but don’t.”
“I ...” She runs her tongue along her bottom lip, her lipstick not moving an inch. “I don’t want to give up. I just don’t know if I’m ready. What if I let you down?” Then, quieter, she says, “What if I let myself down?”
“You won’t. I promise that you won’t. And if at any time it’s not what you want, you tell me, and I’ll let you out. You can walk away. No harm, no foul.”
She weighs my words carefully, letting them hang between us.
Say yes,I beg silently.Say yes, and not just for me, but for you too.
Then finally—fucking finally—she utters a single word. “Yes.”
“Seriously?”
She sighs, then nods. “Yes, seriously. But I have ... requests.”
“Whatever you want. I’m not an expert in this area. You are.”
“Pfft. Please. I’m not. An expert wouldn’t have lost their kitchen so quickly,” she says softly.
I know I should have more questions about that—and I do, and I will ask them later—but right now, I’m fucking elated, and it’s not solely because Iknowthat the cidery is going to benefit from this.
I’m happy forher. I’m glad she’s getting her passion back. I know all too well what it feels like to lose the thing you love the most. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone, least of all Summer.
I don’t know what it is about her, but ... fuck, I don’t know. I just want the best for her. I want her to get everything she’s ever wanted, and I can’t remember the last time I felt that way about anyone.
I run my thumb over the inside of her wrist, and her pulse intensifies. I can feel it thrumming against me. And fuck if it doesn’t make mine ramp up too.
Her brown eyes darken until they’re nearly black, her mouth dropping open just slightly, and once again I find myself leaning into her.
Stop this, Ezra. Stop it right now.
