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Maybe it’s childish to hide away in the kitchen pretending I can’t find a vase, and unfortunately my moment of privacy is short lived when Alastair walks in.
“Need help?”
I spin around from my place in front of the open cupboard. “Just choosing the right one.”
He reaches above me, his spicy scent overwhelming me. Did he use the entire bottle of cologne?
“What about this one?” he says, handing a crystal vase to me.
“That’ll work great. Thanks.”
“Any time.”
I busy myself arranging the tulips in the vase and filling it with water.
“Your mom tells me you made the dinner for tonight?”
“Mm hmm,” I reply, not facing him.
“You enjoy cooking?”
I turn and look at him over my shoulder. “Very much. I own a diner and even though we have someone who does the cooking, I help when I can and I also love to bake.”
He grins, and I want to squirm. “What do you bake?”
“Anything. Do you want a glass of wine?”
“That would be great.”
I pour each of us a glass and another for my mother. “Should we join Mom?”
“So soon?”
“Yes.”
I don’t wait to see if he follows, I can feel him practically breathing down my back.
He places a hand on my lower back and I discreetly move out of his reach, picking up my pace to get back to my mother to dump the wine right in her lap for putting me in this position tonight.
“Wine?” I ask her, handing her the glass along with a glare.
She smiles brightly, knowing exactly what she’s doing.
“Sure, sweetie, thank you. Did you find a vase?”
“I helped,” Alastair announces as if he just accomplished something monumental rather than simply handed me a vase.
“Oh, that’s so sweet of you. You’re such a gentleman, Alastair. Tell me, how is work?”
He adjusts his tie and takes a seat in the chair across from Mom. “Great. I had a productive day.”
“That means he made lots of money,” Mom clarifies, looking at me.
Alastair chuckles. “That’s part of it, yes.”
The rest of the evening goes as awkward as it began.
Only it gets worse.
