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A flash of something crosses his face before he grins. “Just us, huh?”
I open my mouth to respond as the timer goes off on the oven. As much as I hate to do it, I pry myself out of his arms and run to the kitchen. He follows and brings the package with him.
“What are those?” I baste the meat.
“I haven’t been able to think about anything but the taste of your chocolate kisses since Tuesday night, so I had the bakery down the street put a bouquet of chocolate flowers together for me.”
“Chocolate kisses?”
“The mousse.” He raises one eye and smirks.
Tuesday night, he insisted we have dessert, so I ordered chocolate mousse. The memory of our kiss goodnight at my car comes back and I grin.
“It’s selfish, really. I could have gotten flowers, but the thought of the chocolate kisses for an extended period of time won out.”
We look at each other for a long minute, and I’m positive there’s a goofy grin on my face. “That’s really sweet.”
“Smells great. Can I help?”
“No, but you can open the wine.”
His crooked expression is hilarious. “Would you be offended if I said I’m not a wine guy?”
“Nope, already figured that. Beer is in the fridge. The wine is for me.”
He chuckles and gets us both a drink as I finish dinner. We sit down to eat, and the conversation is light for a while as we talk about our jobs. I’m shocked when he tells me the depth of James’s business. His explanation the other night only skimmed the surface of Hayes Security. Apparently, they have a group that contracts with the US Government on highly confidential projects. Robbie’s whole demeanor changes when he talks about this division. It’s obvious he wants to be a part of the team.
Once we are done, I start to clean, but he places a hand over mine and his face turns serious. The hair on the back of my neck stands.
“Ember, tell me about your family.”
“What about them? Cruz and Alex are pretty self-explanatory. My Aunt Chloe is phenomenal. She’s unlike any woman I’ve ever known. She’s kind and gentle, very open about everything. Her support has no bounds. If I told her I wanted to be President, or I wanted to design clothes, she’d be cheering me on loudly.”
“Sounds like an amazing woman.”
“You have no idea.”
“What about your parents? Any siblings?” he asks cautiously.
I open my mouth to answer and shut it quickly. Does he really want to know my mom hates me? Or is it too taboo to talk about how my only blood sibling would like me dead? These are things I never speak about and, therefore, my guard goes up.
“Yes, of course I have parents. And one sister,” I add quickly and leave the table in a rush. I start to put away the remaining food and slam the pots in the sink.
“Whoa, what happened? Did I say something wrong?” He comes up behind me.
“No, but I never talk about my family. Ever. Not everyone has the love and sup
port system you do. I’ve seen the way you interact with your sister and talk about your parents. Let’s just say, some of us aren’t so lucky.” My body twists into him.
“So tell me to mind my own fucking business, tell me it’s off limits, but don’t close me out and go into total shut down. I didn’t know. It was only a question.”
His face is filled with apprehension. If he knows the truth, that look will turn to pity. The last thing I ever want from anyone, especially Robbie, is pity. Then horror sets in because I acted like a manic- one minute smiling and laughing, the next slamming pots in a sink.
“I’m sorry. That was uncalled for. It’s normal for friends to talk about their lives. For me, though, my family is anything but normal.”
His face twists in a scowl, and I wait for him to say he’s leaving, but instead, he leans in and rests his hands on the counter, trapping me. “I’d like to dissect that whole sentence, but I’m going to start with the fact that you called us friends. Is that what you want us to be?”
His voice is low and scary, and I don’t dare look him in the eyes. Instead, I focus on the three buttons of his black thermal and tamper down the impulse to run- or cry.
