Page 19 of Dining for Love

Reid excuses himself to go to the restroom, and I whirl on Agatha. “You have a lot of nerve, you know that?”

She is wholly unrepentant. “Willa Dean Dash, you need out of this town. Who better to whisk you away than that young man? Start something up with him and when his time is up, you’ll go to Miami with him. Get a job at a real restaurant.” She takes her plate and walks the few steps into the kitchen, the subject as good as closed.

I growl. “Agatha, I’vetoldyou that I like it here!”

She sets the dish in the sink and holds her hand out for mine. “How can you know you like it here when the only time you left was one semester of cooking school? You’ve not been anywhere, Willa.”

I barely hold back a scream.One semester of cooking school? She makes it sound like I was in regular college, doing regular college stuff, when the experience was far more brutal and cutthroat than that. I’m about to retort, but Reid’s steps tell me he’s nearly back to the kitchen. And I’m not having this conversation for the millionth time with Agatha. She and everyone else are convinced that all I need is to get out of town. What no one bothers to consider is my feelings on the matter.

Reid insists on helping with clean-up, and we have the kitchen set to rights quickly. I’m about to suggest we open another bottle of wine when Agatha claps her hands, an expectant look on her face. “Well, I’m exhausted. Time for bed. I’ll see you kids later!”

I narrow my eyes. “Agatha, you always insist on me staying to watchJeopardy!And that doesn’t come on for another —”

“As I said, I am exhausted.” She grabs my arm and turns me toward the back door, and holy wow, she isstrong.

“Do you lift weights?” I ask.

She rolls her eyes. “Child, I swear. You exhaust me. Get out of here.” Then she turns to Reid. “Walk her home.”

Reid is clearly aiming for favorite neighbor status, because he simply nods. “Of course. Thanks for having me over.”

“Thanks for cooking,” she responds, opening the door and practically shoving us onto the white slats of the front porch before shutting the door with more force than is necessary.

Reid turns his knowing gaze to me, bemused. “She’s fun.”

I chuckle, grateful to realize that I’m not terrified of him right now. And hey, it only took two glasses of wine.

I should probably think a little critically about why I need a drink or two to be comfortable around Hottie McGee here, but I’m just going to move past it. “She is,” I agree. “And you don’t have to walk me home—it’s literally thirty seconds away.”

He shakes his head seriously. “Absolutely not. I promised. And I’m an officer of the law.”

“How does that play into this, exactly?”

He grins, his lips far too luscious for any sane person to bear. “It’s in the oath we take.”

“You solemnly swear to keep all promises made to old ladies?”

His smile is bright enough to rival the sun. “Precisely.”

Managing not to swoon, and being unreasonably proud of that fact, I shrug and start toward my door as Reid talks and smiles. While walking me home…all fifty or whatever feet of it. The cicadas are out in force, and a breeze brings the salty scent of the ocean with it. I slow my pace, wanting to extend the moment just a little longer.

Actually, what I really want to do is sit and turn this night over, sifting through the moments, reflecting on the company and the food.

Reid, ever the observant one, notices. “You want to sit?” He gestures at the chairs in his backyard.

I shake my head. “No, it’s just…” I trail off and barely repress a sigh.

“Just what?” he prods gently.

Be brave, Willa.

I take a breath and hope my voice is steady when I speak. “I really like sitting outside on my porch there.” I point to the joke of a porch that juts off the kitchen and faces his property.

“Now?”

I hum. “Other times, too. But you’re always in the yard, and you’re…you…and I really only need like thirty minutes."

He grins, and so help me, if he presses me on what I mean byyou’re you, I might go up in flames. He licks his lips, and something tightens inside me. “So, what, you want me to go inside my house for half an hour while you have some time to yourself on your porch?”

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