Page 22 of Love Song, Take Two

He hesitated before sitting down and she smiled, because even confused and stiff, he was really something to look at. To most people, Fletcher might not be handsome, but every angle of his face was appealing to her. When he started to serve her, Micah tore her eyes away from his face and poured out the wine. Their gazes met once or twice as he filled their plates, but then both of them focused on their food. The sauce, freshly made and perfectly seasoned made Micah moan, eyes slipping shut as she took her time chewing and swallowing the food.

When she opened them, Fletcher was staring at her with a pleased smile. He’d taken off his glasses and untied his hair, tucking it behind his ears. Why is that so fucking hot, though?

“Good, huh?”

She nodded, focusing on scooping up more food so she wouldn’t stare at his face. “Where did you learn how to cook like this?”

He twirled the spaghetti around his fork as he spoke. “I’ve been really lucky to meet tons of great people while on tour. There was this chef in New York who said he’d feed me for free if I could get his buddies into a sold out show. I asked him for cooking lessons instead.”

“Incredible,” she mumbled and shoved another forkful of pasta into her mouth, resisting the urge to moan again. Her tastebuds caught every flavor and she felt lightheaded with the pleasure of eating amazing food.

She wasn’t a bad cook and could follow a recipe, but Micah didn’t have skills like this. She used sauce from a bottle or a can, her pasta wasn’t always this soft and well-seasoned. And she definitely didn’t put this much effort into something so simple.

“What kind of work do you do that keeps you out so late?”

The question caught her off guard, especially since she was so busy enjoying her dinner, so she set down her fork and leaned back to look at Fletcher. He was busy stuffing his face, but when his eyes met hers, he froze. While she knew he was only asking, Micah was instantly on the defensive.

“Is that judgment in your tone or curiosity?”

“Why am I judging you?”

“For not being at home when my kid is here.”

He frowned, setting his fork down and leaning back as well. “Did someone make you feel that way?”

“Answer the question, Fletch.”

“First of all, this is your family and I have no room to make judgments or have opinions on what you should be doing. Secondly, your kid? She’s practically an adult and from everything I’ve seen of Emery, you raised an independent and pretty badass kid.”

Micah nodded slowly, watching him as she tried to process his words. Not what she expected him to say, but she appreciated that that’s how he was handling the whole situation. Reaching for her wine, she let that distract her for a moment. Except, he was still watching her like he wanted answers.

“Who made you feel that way, Mick?”

“My ex was a bit of an asshole,” she said, stilted laughter spilling from her. “Our relationship was a mess and he used that to his advantage.”

Through his beard, she saw Fletcher’s jaw flex and added it to her little mental library of things she liked about this man. He looked like he had something disparaging to say about Geoffrey, but her ex wasn’t worth his time.

“I work as a speech therapist,” she started, rolling spaghetti around her fork as she spoke. “Some sessions run long because my clients need extra time to complete their exercises. However, I’ve started working with an elderly woman who is part of a book club and they…” she trailed off and scrunched up her nose, realizing that she almost told Fletcher all of the details about Mrs. Hershey.

“Doctor patient confidentiality, I get it,” he said, smiling across the table at her.

“I sometimes tell Emery or my best friends about my clients, I forgot who I was talking to for a moment.”

“We’re friends, right? Maybe not best friends, but friends.”

Micah set her glass down and leaned forward. “Is that what you want us to be?”

“Don’t…” He blew out a frustrated breath and laughed. “It’s weird to say that being around you is hard, because we don’t really know each other anymore. But it is hard.”

“I don’t think it should be hard to be around your friends, right?”

“I should have known you’d still be trouble after all these years.”

“Somethings will never change.” She licked her lips, biting down on the bottom one when his eyes lowered at the action.

“Eat your dinner, Mick.”

“Bossy.” Laughing softly, she twirled the spaghetti around her fork and put the food in her mouth, eyes fixed on his face. He’d been so polite that night in this hotel room, please and may I and can we. Something about the way he commanded her right then made her wonder if he’d sound like that in bed now. Even as the thought entered her mind, Micah tried to wish it away. There was no point in having those kinds of thoughts about Fletcher. She couldn’t afford to let herself think that way.

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