Page 46 of Merry Little Midlife Matchmaker

The front door opened, and Aaron appeared in the doorway. He waved at us. “That was quick!”

“Oh for two,” Lizzie called back.

“You’re losing your touch,” Aaron replied.

“No way,” Lizzie protested. “I can do this. I’m good at this! Matchmaking is one of my special skills.”

“What other special skills do you have?” The question just…slipped out of me. I hadn’t meant to sound so raspy.

Lizzie glanced over her shoulder at me and narrowed her eyes. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

Yes, yes I would.

“Come inside,” Aaron called out. “Game’s on. Lizzie, the kids are in the family room if you want to check on them.”

As I glanced at her profile, I saw Lizzie’s smile freeze, then brighten artificially. “Sure!” She set off toward the house, and I had no choice but to follow.

TWENTY-ONE

LIZZIE

I wasin the kitchen putting together a snack for the kids when Sean came in to top up his drink. He watched me arrange cut vegetables on a platter for a moment as he filled his glass with water, then nabbed a carrot stick when he thought I wasn’t looking.

I smacked at his hand, and he laughed.

Sometimes it caught me unaware just how gorgeous he was. When he laughed like that, it made me feel like I was full of helium and just one fraying thread away from floating away.

Laurel’s words echoed in my mind. What if hewasinterested in me? She seemed so sure of it, and maybe…

“Is all of that for the kids?”

I looked down at the plate of veggies and dip, then nodded. “Yes, but I can make up another plate for you guys to have while you watch the game.”

“If it’s not too much trouble…”

“Not at all.” I smiled but turned away quickly to get the supplies out of the fridge again. Laurel’s comments were getting to my head.

When I turned back again, Sean leaned against the counter next to me. His arm brushed mine, and his gaze followed themovement of my knife. I sliced through a cucumber and began to cut it into sticks.

“Where’d you learn how to do that?” His voice was low. Intimate.

I arched a brow. “What, chop veggies?”

“Use a knife like that.”

“Mostly YouTube videos,” I admitted. “Here. Let me show you.” I put the knife in his hand and curled his fingers around the handle and the base of the blade. His skin was warm, his hand much larger than mine. My heart thumped at the feel of him so close to me. “You have more control holding it this way compared to just gripping the handle.”

“Right,” he said, and put down his drink. “And then I just…”

“Yeah. Rock the knife back and forth. Just like that.”

I stood close to him, my face near his shoulder, until he’d finished cutting the cucumber into slices. He grabbed a red pepper and positioned it on the cutting board.

“Let me show you a trick,” I said. “If you top and tail the pepper, you can get all the seeds out sort of like you’re fileting a fish, and then you’ll end up with a big strip that’s easy to julienne.”

“I have no idea what any of that means, but I trust you,” Sean replied, grinning. I couldn’t have stopped myself from smiling back if I tried. But I didn’t try. I just stood there grinning at him over a board of half-prepared vegetables like a loon.

He smelled delicious. As I took the knife back and showed him what I meant, he leaned closer so his chest brushed my shoulder. It might have been my imagination, but I thought his hand might have floated up to brush the small of my back.

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