Page 25 of Pick Me This Time

It turned out that most of what he’d been hauling belonged to his wife. Daphne had a single bag that he left at the base of the stairs leading up to the loft, and the rest of the luggage, he took into the bedroom with him.

Something strange happened to my insides when I finally saw her. She was standing in the little kitchenette when I walked in, her chestnut locks pulled into a messy bun on top of her head and her beautiful blue eyes free of any makeup.

She wore an off-shoulder, long-sleeved shirt with a pair of jeans and those same sneakers she always seemed to be wearing on her feet. No jewelry and no frills and yet the sight of her sorting through ingredients to make a salad took my breath away.

My footsteps nearly faltered, but at the last moment, I caught myself, schooling my features just as she looked up and flashed me a smile. “Hey. You don’t have any allergies I need to be aware of, right?”

“Nope.”

“We’re going to check out Eric’s new boat real quick,” Jake said as he emerged from the bedroom. “Want to walk with us, North?”

“No, I’m okay,” I said, surprising even myself. “I think I’ll grab a quick shower and help Daphne with dinner. I’ll take a look at the boat tomorrow.”

Jake shrugged and cracked open a beer while he waited for Eric at the firepit. He came downstairs from the loft just a few seconds later, having donned dry clothes before he went back out.

“Are you sure?” Eric said. “Daphne doesn’t mind us popping out. We’ll be back soon enough to do the heavy lifting with the grilling.”

She stuck her tongue out at her brother, those eyes sparkling with the same sharp wit I’d seen from her earlier. “The heavy lifting, huh? What’s so heavy about tossing a few sausages on a fire? Mankind has been doing it for centuries, big brother. Go, play with your toys. I’ll be fine here.”

Eric laughed and shrugged at me when I strode to the kitchen instead of the door. “We’ll be back soon.”

As I watched my friends stroll down the path outside, I wondered why the hell I’d opted to stay behind. Ever since I’d arrived, I’d been doing everything in my power to steer clear of this girl and to drive her as far away from me as humanly possible, but now, we were crammed together in the tiny kitchenette, and I caught whiffs of her rich, buttery scent on every inhale.

It was maddening. Intoxicating. Yet, while I easily could’ve followed after Jake and Eric instead, I didn’t. I simply turned to her and smiled. “I’m going to go grab that shower before I get pond scum all over the food, but when I’m done, be ready to put me to work.”