But even with the obvious chemistry between us, I felt barely able to face him in the light of day. I waited until I heard Penny go downstairs for breakfast before I followed so that I wouldn’t be forced to have a conversation with Nile about last night. At least with Penny awake, we wouldn’t have to talk about what passed between us. I wasn’t ready to acknowledge to my mate that our connection had grown deeper than I’d intended.
“Good morning,” Nile said as I came into the kitchen. “You look hungry. Can I get you some breakfast?”
He was smiling knowingly at me, and I wondered if he was going to say something about last night. Hopefully, not in front of his daughter.
“Maybe just some coffee,” I replied.
“Of course. Nothing better than some caffeine after a late night,” he said with a wink.
I narrowed my eyes at him as he poured my coffee and added a splash of cream. He passed the cup to me and went back to mixing the pancakes for Penny’s breakfast.
“Did you need some help making the bacon?” I asked in a bid to be helpful.
“I would love your help sticking the meat in,” Nile said cheekily.
“Nile!” I said, horrified that he was using a double entendre in front of his daughter.
“What?” he said sheepishly. “I just want you to put the bacon in the oven. It makes it easier to clean up than if you cook it in the skillet, and it bakes it evenly.”
I rolled my eyes at him but placed the pieces of bacon on a baking sheet and turned the oven on. Soon, the smell of bacon and pancakes wafted through the air.
“Here you go, Penelope,” I said, plating some food for the little girl.
“Aren’t you guys gonna eat?” she asked, taking a large bite of syrup-covered pancakes.
I shook my head and took another sip of my coffee before beginning to clean up the kitchen. Nile had started loading the dirty dishes into the washer when I realized I needed the dishcloth that was still in the sink behind him.
“Can you pass me the dish rag so I can wipe down the counter?” I asked. “You spilled pancake batter over here.”
He ran a clean rag under the faucet and passed it to me. As water dripped down my hand Nile smiled, and he wiped the water droplets away with his fingertips.
“Sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t mean to get you so wet.”
I blushed as my mind was thrown back to last night. The movement of his fingertips against my wrist sent goosebumps down my spine as I remembered a similar motion against a more sensitive area.
“You’re distracting me from cleaning,” I said back quietly.
“I prefer it when you’re dirty,” he said, continuing to stroke my hand.
Our eyes locked, and I could feel my heart starting to beat faster as my stomach tightened and my breathing became strained.
“Daddy, you better hurry!” Penelope said, pulling us out of our thoughts. “I’m going to be late for school.”
“Shit,” Nile muttered under his breath.
“I’ll take her,” I offered. “I’m ready to go, anyway. You can finish in here.”
“You want me to finish…?” he asked with his eyebrow raised.
I slapped his arm playfully with the towel I had used to dry my hands. “Come on, Pen. Let’s get you to school. Say bye to your dad,” I said.
“Bye, Dad!” Penelope said, jumping down from her chair and grabbing her backpack.
“Love you, baby,” he replied. “Have a good day at school.”
I walked her to preschool, waving goodbye as she went inside, and headed off to work.
Even though Walter still had me doing cleaning and restocking, I was enjoying my job. As far as retail went, it was fairly easy, as there wasn’t a steady flow of customers. Thecustomers we did have generally knew what they were looking for.