Page 58 of Tangled Up In You

Unfortunately, it was interrupted by the man they'd just been talking about.

She sat up a little straighter as Brodie and Adam entered the kitchen. Just seeing Adam made a mockery of her wanting to keep things platonic. Her body was tingling all over, her heart was racing, and he'd only given her a brief smile.How on earth was she going to stay just friends with this man?

ChapterFifteen

Of course,Adam had known that Molly would be at the inn. Even if Brodie hadn't told him she was going, he would have guessed that the women would have included her in their annual drunken bake-off. Not that they called it that, but in his experience, there was usually more wine than cake decorating.

But knowing she'd be there still hadn't prepared him for the instantaneous reaction he got every time he saw her laughing smile and sparkling green eyes. She was always lit up. Whatever she was doing, she did it with more than a hundred percent effort. She lived enthusiastically and in the moment. He envied that ability. He'd been like that until the moment Gina died.

Then he'd realized that thinking ahead resulted in fewer mistakes and was infinitely safer. It might be argued that he had a little less spontaneous fun these days. But he'd made that trade a long time ago, and he didn't see that changing.

But Molly was going to test that resolve. She'd literally knocked him over when they first met, and she'd been metaphorically knocking him over ever since.

Which was why he should have said no to coming to the inn with Brodie. He'd briefly considered that option, but his desire to see her had overridden his desire to play it safe. He'd rationalized his decision by telling himself he needed to fill her in on what he'd learned so far. It wasn't the real reason, but it was the one he was going with.

"So, what's good?" he asked, surveying the array of desserts that were still unwrapped.

"If you like lots of frosting, Lizzie's cupcakes are for you," Chelsea said dryly.

"Or if you want a tiny speck of icing that will barely coat your lips, go for Chelsea's," Lizzie returned.

He shook his head in bemusement. "My God, you two have been fighting over how to ice cupcakes since you were little kids."

"That's because Lizzie refuses to do it right," Chelsea said.

"I just don't do it your way," Lizzie retorted. "And they're delicious, Adam." She held one out to him.

The heavy dollop of icing was not that appealing. "I'm thinking about one of those lemon bars instead."

"Oh, well, that figures. Molly made those," Chelsea said with a laugh.

"All I did was sprinkle the powdered sugar," Molly said. "The rest was the work of Lizzie's pastry chef."

"Where is Shannon?" he asked, referring to Lizzie's pastry chef.

"She left like an hour ago," Lizzie said with a hiccup at the end of her sentence, which turned into a laugh. "She packaged most of it up before she left. We just have to do the rest." Another hiccup punctuated her sentence.

"I see the wine has been flowing."

"Would you like some?" Gianna held up the half-empty bottle. "I think there's also beer in the fridge."

"There's always beer in the fridge," Lizzie said. "Justin's drink of choice."

"Where are Justin and Zach?" he asked.

"They said they were going to walk through Justin's new offices to go over what still needs to be done, but I think they were also getting dinner somewhere," Gianna said. "They should be here soon. Zach is going to give me a ride home."

"That seems like a wise idea. I hope you all have rides home."

"I actually might need one," Hannah said. "Jake had to go down to Denver to check out some new skiing equipment, and I did drive, but then someone kept refilling my glass."

"I can give you a ride," Chloe said. "I'm sober. And if you need one, Molly, I can take you home, too."

"I'm okay. I've only had one glass."

He was surprised. He would have expected Molly to cut loose. "How did you manage that?"

"She keeps saying she has a lot of work to do," Chelsea said, answering for Molly.

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