Page 64 of All I Feel

“To be fair, I wouldn’t say I love cooking. It’s just something that needs to be done. And since I’ve got to eat every day, I figure it’s worth being half decent at it.”

Gesturing to the plate with his fork, Ace said, “Well, if this is any indication of your skills, I’d say you’re better than just half decent.”

“Thanks.”

“I never knew that about your dad.”

After taking a sip of my water, I asked, “Knew what? He pretty much stopped professional snowboarding around the same time as your dad. While your mom worked a few days at the hair salon and my mom at the dance studio, our dads stayed home with us. It was the same for you as it was for me.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t realize that your dad did most of the cooking.”

I smiled. If I thought back on it now, life when I was a kid was chaos. With four children so close together in age, the demands on my parents were high. But if they were stressed or frustrated during those days, I never knew it. “Xander Stone loved every part of being a dad. Even now, he still does. I told you he wanted to take everyone out to celebrate when he learned that Ryan and I were over, didn’t I?”

Ace burst out laughing. The sight of him like that heldme captive. I’d seen Ace laugh hundreds of times over the years I’d known him, but none had affected me like this. Maybe it was because this time he was laughing at something I’d said. As he got his laughter under control, I still couldn’t look away. Those bright blue eyes were shining, and those few rogue strands of dark hair that fell over his brow made him impossibly good-looking.

The desire to drift through that hair made my fingers twitch. My mind filled with thoughts of how he’d look if that hair was just wet from a shower. And at the thought of Ace and a shower, I envisioned him naked with nothing more than a towel wrapped around his waist. I had to bite my lip to stifle a moan.

“You didn’t tell me your dad had said that, but I’m not surprised by that response from him. That sounds like the guy I know him to be,” Ace said.

For the next few minutes, Ace and I finished our dinner. We exchanged several smiles in the comfortable silence.

When we finished, I asked, “So, how was your week?”

Ace sat back in his chair, looking completely relaxed and like he belonged exactly where he was. “It was okay. Things have been steady at work, which is always good. It makes the days fly by.”

“And I just added to that for you,” I murmured.

He smiled. “I don’t mind. In fact, if it weren’t for the fact that you’d been terrorized today and could’ve been injured, I’d actually be pretty excited about it.”

“What? Why?”

“Because it’d give me another excuse to talk to you,” he admitted. Following a beat of silence, he added, “Even though my time was occupied with other things this week, I missed you.”

This was the perfect opening. We were done eating, and Ace had brought up the subject in a way that made this feel a little less daunting.

“I was hoping to talk to you about that.”

Instantly, his body went from relaxed to tense. It was like he was terrified of what I was going to say.

Wanting to put him out of his misery, I said, “I missed you, too.”

His lips parted, and he blinked in surprise. “Oh?”

I had no idea what came over me, but I just blurted everything out. “I’ve thought a lot about what you said to me last weekend, and I want you to know that I’ve found myself daydreaming about you. You’re all I think about these days.”

Ace smiled as his features warmed. “Tessa, I?—”

“I’m terrified.”

“What are you afraid of?”

Gone was the confident woman who, only moments ago, had said all that I’d said. My nerves got the better of me. I tucked a lock of my hair behind my ear before fidgeting with my hands in my lap. After licking my lips, I inhaled deeply and let out a big breath.

This was Ace. No matter what I said, he’d never make me feel bad or wrong or awkward about it.

“You mentioned that you wanted something more than friendship between us. I’ve been thinking a lot about it, and it scares me. If we decided to take this step and things went south…” I trailed off as my eyes dropped to my lap briefly. Once I’d given myself a moment, I returned my attention to him. “I don’t want my relationship with you to end up like what I have with Ryan now.”

Long, agonizing moments of silence stretched betweenus. I didn’t know what to do or say, and Ace gave me no indication of what was going through his mind. It felt like an eternity had passed before he finally said, “Tessa, come here.”