Page 55 of After All

“Honey, Hope is your sister. If you want to plan her shower, do it. Just let us all know what we owe you and what you need.”

Hope’s friends—Delaney, Adrianne, Phoebe Spencer—and her other sisters-in-law, Lauren and Hailey, were planning the shower. But when Adrianne had asked Peyton to do the cake, she’d been thrilled.

“I’d love to do it,” she finally said.

“Awesome.” Adrianne gave her a quick hug. “I’ll tell the girls.”

Peyton felt herself grinning as she returned to her cookies. In spite of Dan’s text.

She might not own her own business, or get voted favorite teacher every year by her students, or fly to Washington, D.C., to lobby Congress like the other women in Sapphire Falls, but if there was a party going on within twenty miles, she was the go-to girl. And, even if she knew nothing else for certain, she did know that her parties always kicked ass.

* * *

Scott heardPeyton’s truck pull into the driveway and he felt his body tighten.

Just from the sound of her truck.

Damn, he had it bad.

He forced himself to continue stirring the sauce, as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening. But as Peyton banged into the kitchen, making even coming through a door loud and attention-worthy, he admitted that this wasextraordinary. Peyton Wells was coming home. To him.

Okay, maybe it was because she kind of had to. Maybe it was temporary—for now. But it was still something worth noting and appreciating.

He glanced over, playing it cool, to find her standing in the middle of his kitchen staring at him.

“Hey,” he greeted her.

“You’re making spaghetti?”

The scent of garlic and oregano filled the air, and the pan of garlic bread was cooling on the counter next to the stove, where a pot of noodles boiled. It seemed self-explanatory, but Scott nodded. “Yeah. Do you like spaghetti?”

He was stunned to see her eyes fill with tears. She dropped her purse on the floor next to her and crossed the room in three strides. She wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her cheek into his chest.

Scott hesitated for only a second before folding his arms over her and hugging her close. He just held her for a few seconds, waiting to hear what was going on.

Finally, she pulled back and looked up at him. “You’re fully clothed.”

He was wearing sweatpants and a T-shirt, but his feet were bare. “Pretty much,” he agreed.

“And you’re cooking.”

“Um, yeah.”

“And you’re not even trying to be sexy, are you?” she asked.

“Well…some things are really hard to help,” he told her with a little grin. “But no, I guess not.”

“And I still want to take all of my clothes off and beg you to do dirty things to me.”

His body hardened almost instantly and he had to clear his throat. “Damn, girl.”

She hugged him again, and then stepped back. “Do you know how long it’s been since I walked in the door after work to dinner already being made? Not to mention a big hot guy doing it?”

His heart softened even as everything south of there stayed hard and on alert. “I’ll do it every night.”

She shook her head. “I’m so confused.”

“About what?”

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