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The thought made her stand up straight, hot coffee splashing onto her wrist. “Ow,” she winced, licking her skin.
Her heart was racing, and it wasn’t from the pain. She shouldn’t be having thoughts about Sullivan’s bare chest. Which she’d never even seen. Well, not since middle school anyway. She was pretty sure she’d seen him at the pool or the beach at some point back in the day. But that was then. She had been free to ogle his lanky teen body then. She wasn’t now.
She absolutely was not allowed to contemplate what his muscles looked like, in the morning or any other time of the day.
“You okay?” He shot her a look of concern, running a paper towel under cold water and handing it to her. “Here, trade me.” He took her coffee so she could compress the damp towel on her skin.
His fingers brushed hers as he made the exchange.
Which was no big deal.
Her heart was racing from the hot coffee burning her skin. No other reason.
“What are your plans for the day?” she asked him just to have something to say.
“We’re going to Meet the Town. You should come.”
“What is Meet the Town?” She didn’t remember anything being referred to by that name in her childhood.
“It’s just where all the businesses downtown have their doors open for tours and booths in the street. The fire trucks will be out for kids to climb on. You know, that sort of thing.” Sullivan helped Finn load the pancakes onto plates. He tried to hand her a plate.
Edwina stared at it. “What is this?”
“Breakfast. You take the plate and eat the pancakes.” He tilted the plate a little left and right as enticement. “Yum. Right, Finn? Yum.”
“Yum!” Finn yelled, jumping off of the chair, a piece of bacon in his hand. He carefully lifted his own plate down from the counter and carried it to the table.
Finn seemed to be a capable and independent kid.
Edwina took the plate Sullivan was holding out for her but made no move to go sit down. She wasn’t sure why pancakes were mystifying her, but they were.
“Are you vegan or gluten-free or something?” he asked. “I should have asked before I fried bacon in your apartment, I’m sorry. Saturday morning pancakes are our thing. We make them every weekend.”
“No, no, it’s not that. This looks amazing, thank you.” She took a deep breath and sat down at the table opposite Finn. She gave the little boy a smile before glancing back at Sullivan. “I just don’t normally eat breakfast.”
“It’s the most important meal of the day.”
“I think that’s a myth.” But she was inclined to change her mind when she bit the piece of bacon Sullivan had put on her plate. “Wow. That’s good.”
“Yum,” Finn said around a mouthful of pancake and syrup.
“Don’t talk with food in your mouth,” Sullivan said as he sat down with them. “You want to say it, not spray it.”
Finn started laughing, which sent syrup dribbling out of his mouth onto his lip.
Sullivan winced. “Okay, sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. Settle down and swallow please before you choke and give me a heart attack.”
Finn visibly swallowed, causing both Edwina and Sullivan to sigh in relief.
“See what I mean?” Sullivan said. “I try to teach a lesson on manners and my kid almost chokes.” He shook his head. “Every day it’s something.”
“I can only imagine.” She smiled at Finn's sticky round face. “I’ll trade you for a day. I’ll hang out with Finn and you can deal with whatever crisis my accountant keeps calling me and leaving me voicemails about.”
Sullivan made a face. “No trade. I don’t like dudes in suits telling me what to do.”
“My accountant is a woman, and she usually wears jumpsuits. We have a casual work environment. Our employees can wear whatever makes them feel comfortable and happy.”
“That’s cool. So tell me more about business. How did you come up with the idea? You mentioned lingerie.”
