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“I never clarified if it was going out, but yes. Or Wednesday, but I work Thursday, so…”
My own flirty side latches onto that statement. “Planning on being out late, huh?”
“Again with theout. And sorry, but no details are available at this time. Are you in or out?”
I consider drawing it out just because I can, but then I cave. “In. Definitely in. But can I have a little hint? Please?”
Seth glances around the nearly empty restaurant, then plants his palms on the counter and leans towards me. Perhaps too eagerly, I meet him halfway, almost closing my eyes because I think he’s going to kiss me.
He doesn’t.
He drops his voice to a whisper and says, “No. But I can tell you that I like your perfume.”
With that, he grins and turns to walk back out the door without even glancing back.
Flirty Sethgets added, quite promptly, to my list.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Seth
As much as I don’t like admitting it, I think the girls’ paint choices were a good decision. We’ve only put a sample up on the siding to make sure we want to go with it for sure, and it’s growing on me. If someone uses this place as a vacation home—which is highly probable, considering this is a lake town—they’ll be left with no choice but to be on vacation mode as soon as they pull into the driveway.
“Well?” I ask, stepping back and glancing around. “What’s the consensus?”
“I still don’t like it,” Colin says, deadpan.
Luka tilts his head, eyes narrowed. “It’s not terrible, I guess.”
“I think it’s perfect,” Alessia says honestly, folding her hands in the cuffs of her hoodie.
“Me too,” Mazzy agrees. She grabs the sample of yellow paint and holds it up next to my patch of blue. “See? You’ve gotta admit that’s gonna look epic.”
Colin smirks. “No, no, I do not.”
Ignoring him, I look at Jenna. “Jen? Ella?”
“I like it a lot,” Ella exclaims, hands planted firmly on her denim-shorts-clad hips. She has a yellow tank with a matching headband to complete her outfit, and there’s a small chocolate stain on her top from our earlier baking. “It’s Mommy’s favorite color.”
I can’t help but smile as a flush crawls into Jenna’s cheeks. I’ve noticed over the past couple months that yellow seems to be Jen’s favorite color. I mean, the woman has about twenty throw pillows in various shades of the color on her sofa at home. I don’t even think that’s an exaggeration. The only reason there are three throw pillows on mine is because, when my sister lived with me, she did her best to cover the couch up and I haven’t had the heart to get rid of them.
“I think it’s going to look really good,” Jenna admits with a shy smile. “Just you wait, Colin. Once it’s all painted, you’ll like it.”
Colin graces her with what looks like a genuine smile, but I know him well enough to sense the forthcoming sarcasm. “I’m sure I will.” He mocks a cough into his fist. “Not.”
Yeah. Called that one.
“All right.” I clap together the work gloves I’m holding like an extra set of hands. “We’re painting with these colors, and that’s that. But because it appears as though rain is moving in finally, not today. Let’s see if we can get the kitchen and living/dining rooms knocked out instead, okay? I already got everything taped earlier and we all have full bellies, so let’s get a move on. Guys, we’re handling the kitchen. The girls can take the other. I need to talk to Jenna for a minute alone, and then we’ll be in.”
Luka swings Eli onto his shoulders and Alessia takes Ella’s hand. The teens talk amongst themselves about how to properly roll paint onto a wall as they head inside. A rumble of thunder confirms my suspicions of impending weather, and it makes Mazzy pause in the doorway. I watch her glance over her shoulder and try to follow her line of sight.
Other than a nondescript gray sedan driving by and the surrounding houses, though, I don’t see anything.
I glance at the teen again. Mazzy’s face has paled, but she recovers quickly by shaking her head and disappearing into the house, the front door closing behind her.
My brain is telling me I should pick up on whatever just transpired, but it’s not coming to me. I try to figure it out for another minute, narrowing my eyes as I wrack my brain, then shake the inkling away and turn to Jenna when nothing comes.
“You wanted to talk?” she asks, brows raised.
