Page 66 of Pitcher Perfect

“I’m not sure. I might be able to kick those to another caterer.”

My stomach sank. “Do you know any other kitchens that might be available for Portland Pairing?” With Portland over an hour away, we couldn’t ask to use anything in Dahlia Springs.

“I’m sure I could rent one. I have a few friends with restaurants, but I can’t use their kitchen when they need it to serve their customers. This one I use sometimes is only open for a few hours each day, so there’s lots of downtime when the kitchen is free. I’ll figure something out.” He smiled bravely, but it didn’t reach his eyes. It was clear he was stressed about it. “Anyway, I’ll leave you to it.”

“Want to stay and share this with me?” I didn’t want him to leave while he looked so dejected. It was my turn to take care of him. I could come back to finish my work early in the morning. I stiffened when I realized the truth in my words.When was the last time I’d been willing to put off my own work to be there for someone else?

He shook his head, smiling softly. “You had to cancel for a reason, and I’m not going to get in the way of that. I hope the equipment works out. Keep me posted? I’ll see you tomorrow. And if tomorrow night doesn’t work, either, that’s okay. I’m not going anywhere. We’ll have our date, yeah?”

I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “Yeah.”

Caleb grabbed my hand and gave it a quick squeeze before dropping it and turning to walk away. I reached out and grabbed his bicep, pulling him in. I leaned in and kissed him, pressing my body against his, trying to wordlessly tell him how much I appreciated him. Caleb melted, clutching at my hips, opening his mouth to me.

I pulled back to breathe. “Thank you for the food and for being you.”

His cheeks were flushed. “I’ll bring you dinner every day if it gets me that response.”

“You’d better get out of here before I take you up on it.” I gave him a quick peck then stepped back. “Seriously. Thank you.” I infused as much meaning into the insufficient words as I could.

“You’re welcome.” He kissed my temple then left.

Before I could finish stacking cheese on a cracker and shoving it in my mouth, Ethan was at my side, snatching food like a seagull stealing scraps.

“Caleb didn’t bring this for you.”

Ethan smirked. “You’re right. He brought me my own.”

I whirled on him. “He what?”

Ethan snatched the cracker sandwich from my fingers. “Yup. He said he was bringing food for you. He knew the taproom was still open and thought I might be interested in some too. If you don’t marry that man, I will.”

“Keep your hands off him,” I growled.

Ethan’s eyes lit with mischief. “I’m loving this possessive streak. It’s enough to be hot but not so much to be creepy. He’s been bringing you food a lot. How are things going?”

“He’s a chef. He has food around.” I swatted Ethan’s hand when he reached in to grab more cheese.

“Dropping off one of the breakfast sandwiches he makes for work is different thanassembling something with love.”

“Oh, piss off with the L-word.”

Ethan snorted, did some sort of fake-out that would make a Portland Trailblazer proud, and grabbed the stack of pepperoni. “Seriously, though. He’s a great guy.”

Tension settled at my neck. “I know that,” I said a bit too defensively.

“He’s different from the other guys you’ve been interested in. You’re different too.”

I knew I was falling into a trap, but curiosity got the better of me. “How am I different?”

Ethan got that look in his eye that said I might not like what was about to come out of his mouth. He sat on the edge of the desk and leaned back on his hands. “Now, you’re a business owner. You have serious responsibilities and a hell of a lot of pressure on your shoulders. You’ve always worked too hard in school and in your corporate life, but before this, you used it as an escape. It was an easy excuse to keep things casual with guys and not risk getting hurt.”

He put up his hand to stop me when I opened my mouth to argue.

“Nuh-uh. I’m talking, and you’re going to listen.”

Ethan’s bossy streak didn’t come out often, but when it did, it left me wondering when else he used it. It was too well practiced, but I didn’t need to know that much about his sex life, so I never asked.

“You’re in your thirties now too. You’ve moved back to your hometown with your best friends to build your dream business that will hopefully take us to retirement. That’s maturity. What you need to ask yourself now is whether working late is necessary as a business owner or a way of escaping something hard.”

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