Page 26 of Devoted Enough

When he didn’t say anything, I looked at him. He was staring at me with a look I had never seen before.

“Your hair,” he softly said.

Feeling embarrassed, I reached up and touched it. “I know, it’s a mess. Hence the ponytail thingy that I need.”

He shook his head. “It’s beautiful, Haven. I forgot you had such curly hair.”

His words rattled the inside of my chest, and it took me a few seconds to find my voice.

“Um, yeah, I wear it up a lot. Makes it easier when I’m dealing with the dogs.”

Nate cleared his throat and slightly shook his head before he turned back to the bacon. “I think you should wear it down more.”

My eyes went wide at his admission. “Did you just give me a compliment, Nate?”

He glanced back at me. “Don’t make it seem like I’ve never complimented you before.”

My arms crossed my chest as I let out a humorless laugh. “You haven’t. Ever. Not once.”

A look of…regret…crossed over his face. Impossible. I clearly had misread it.

“I find that hard to believe.”

Deciding to let this conversation go, I asked, “Did you need me to help with anything?”

“If you wouldn’t mind watching the bacon for me. I worked out this morning and started the bacon when I got out of the shower, but I need to change.”

My eyes went over his body. He was built, but not overly built, like some guys at the gym with muscles that are way too big. Nate’s shoulders were broad, and his chest was bare of hair, which made my fingers twitch to touch his skin. Then you had his lower midsection, which had the perfect set of abs, indented in all the ways that abs should be. His sweats hung low on his hips—Lord, give me strength—and the pain in my lower lip alerted me that I was biting down on it.

“You okay, Haven?” Nate asked.

My eyes jerked back up to his, and I nodded. “Yep. Fine. I’ll, um, I’ll take care of the bacon.”

He nodded and walked off, leaving me to grab onto the counter and take a few deep breaths. It was suddenly sweltering in that kitchen.

Once I pulled myself together and reminded myself,again, that I was moving on from Nate, I walked over to the bacon andflipped it. I made my way to the pantry and took a quick look. We had eggs last night, so I was hoping to make something different. When I spied pancake mix, I smiled. I also found a can of pumpkin puree, pumpkin spice, and vanilla. Nate’s pantry was stocked with everything one would need to cook. He may not do fancy, but he clearly liked to cook.

A thought suddenly occurred to me. What if he was dating someone, and I didn’t know? Wouldn’t Sophia have said something? No, why would she? Lily…would she have mentioned it?

I shook my head. No one would mention it because no one knew how I felt about Nate. Okay, just because he had food in his pantry didn’t mean it was because he was dating someone. And besides, who cared? Not me. I was moving on.

Lining up what I needed to make the pancakes, I looked around the kitchen. “Where would the mixing bowls be?”

“That cabinet right there. What are you doing?”

Nate had walked into the kitchen and up to a cabinet. When he opened the door, I saw the bowls. I reached in and took out a medium mixing bowl.

“I’m making us pumpkin spice pancakes.”

He raised a brow.

“You do like pumpkin, don’t you?”

“Of course I do.”

Smiling, I said, “Great. My mother used to make this for me on the first day of fall every year.”

Nate laughed. “You’re a bit late. Fall was back in September.”

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