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“I know… he’s a dear friend. I had a moment of weakness.”
“A moment of weakness?”
He inhales slowly to level his breathing and swallows. “You torture me, daily. Every single inch of you.”
This isn’t happening. “I should go.”
“No,” he insists, looking around the kitchen and then at the mess on the floor beside us. When he reaches for me again and tries to draw me closer, I duck under his arm to escape, twisting my arm so quickly my skin stretches. My foot sinks into the spongey mess of cake on the ground and I almost slip as I try to hop away from it.
“Fuck,” I hiss under my breath.
“Gwen,” he panics, moving to block my path. “You lost yourself too. I felt it. You kissed me back.”
“For less than a second.”
“More like three,” he corrects, looking away as if ashamed. “I apologise. It wasn’t the right time.”
“The right time?” My voice hits a high pitch. “There will never be a right time! That can’t ever happen again.”
“It won’t. You mustn’t tell Nathan. Do you understand? It will ruin you both.”
My jaw hits the floor. How dare he? “I have more faith in my partner than that.” Not that we’re together, but we aren’t exactly not together. I know it will upset him. I know he’s been struggling with my relationship with Kerim. I should throttle myself for not believing him when it came to Kerim’s intentions.
“Feel free to tell him, though take it from a man who knows, he’ll never trust what you have here.”
Deep down I know that he’s right and that frightens me. I don’t want to lie to Nathan but I don’t want to fuel this treacherous fire. “Why are you so worried what I do or don’t say?”
“I’m just trying to clear your mind before you leave.”
“Clear my mind?” I laugh once though there’s nothing funny. “You’re insane. You’re my boss… my chef.”
“We’d be perfect for each other.”
“I’m perfect already!”
Pushing around him, I aim directly for the staff room to gather my belongings. I need to put as much distance between myself and Kerim as possible.
“I know you feel the same way. It’s why you hide here with me instead of with your fiancé.”
“You are deluded,” I murmur as I pass him once more. I’m relieved when he lets me go.
It isn’t until I’m outside that he yells after me, “You kissed me back. It might have been just for a second but it happened. Think about that before you make any more decisions about me.”
My feet pick up the pace, eager to reach my car and drive home.
I don’t want or need this drama. I just want a quiet and happy life without all of these hidden little extras waiting to test my strength and patience. If there is a god, he certainly put me on the sour side of his plan.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“You have no idea how happy I am to see you!” I go to hug my friend but stop in my tracks when I see how different she looks. Her hair is jet black and flowing in thick waves past her shoulders. “You look gorgeous! You’ve changed your hair.”
She bites her lip, stifling a stretched, uncontrollable grin. Then her left hand rises higher and higher until the sparkling rock on a thin gold band catches the sun and blinds me entirely with happiness.
We both begin to scream together like school girls and finally hug, still bouncing up and down on the spot.
“You told her then,” Tommy chuckles, stepping to her side and wrapping his arm around her shoulders after we separate. “She hasn’t stopped looking at it since I gave it to her yesterday.”
“What took you so long?” I beam, pulling him in for a hug.
They follow me into the house as he replies, “Well I knew she was excited, so I wanted to make her wait.”
“You’re a nob,” she states but her smile remains. He kisses her cheek and looks around my kitchen.
“No cake,” I wince apologetically and his face contorts with a mixture of horror and disappointment. “I dropped it.”
“I would’ve still eaten it.”
“I’m sorry.” I go to hug him but he shuns me playfully. Sasha hugs me instead and then asks the dreaded, “Where’s Nathan and my babes?”
“He took them to the park so I could get you settled and deliver the disappointing news about the cake to Tommy.”
She quickly becomes distracted by the picture of Caleb on the microwave. “Oh my gosh! It has been too long since I looked upon this face. It’s making me emotional.”
“He was a good-looking guy.” Tommy shakes his head slowly. “What a waste of life.”
“I miss him,” I admit aloud and Sasha returns the photo to its resting place.
“We all do.” Then she grins and adds, “He’d want us to celebrate my engagement.”
“The kids,” I pout.
