Page 59 of Second Chance for Mr. Alden

A piercing robotic shriek abruptly ended the moment at the same time as the smell of burning bread filled the air. What the fuck was that noise? Its incessant beeping was obnoxiously loud.

“Smoke alarm.” Alden pointed to the small round disk in the ceiling, blinking angrily at us as it wailed.

Looking behind Alden, the charred mess of the grilled cheese stared back at me, smoke wafting up from the pan. I snorted, then broke out into uncontrollable laughter. My hip dug into the counter where I held myself up. I laughed so hard. “Those poor sandwiches. They were doomed from the start.” I gasped out.

Alden turned off the burner and grabbed a paper plate to wave under the smoke alarm. The silence seemed strange the moment it stopped, and it took a second for my ears to adjust.

He gave me a sheepish smile. “I guess I deserved having my side burn too after giving you shit.”

“Karma’s a bitch,” I teased, grateful our moment of revelation was over. Especially since I still wasn’t sure what to do with it. “Guess we’re ordering out.”

He laid out the stack of takeout menus across the island for us to go through.

I grabbed the sleeve of his shirt and tugged until he met my gaze. There was one thing Ishoulddo though.

“You okay?” His brow furrowed as his concerned gaze swept over me.

“Yeah, I wanted to thank you. I don’t have a lot of people in my life that are nice to me because they want to be and not because they want something from me.” I don’t think he could ever truly understand how precious that was to me.

He gave me a side hug and a light kiss on the top of my head. “You’re welcome.”

When he let go of me to look at the menus I immediately missed the feel of his arm around me, and I knew I was in trouble.

Chapter Thirteen

Alden

“Please, Alden.” Jessput her palms together in front of her like she was praying.

I wiped the sweat running down my face with a towel and scowled at her. “No.”

“No one will know. We can disguise ourselves and everything.” She gave me a great big smile.

“Jess, I just got in from my run. I want a shower. Not to be harassed by you,” I grumbled.

“Then say yes and we can both have what we want.” She grinned and flipped her hair back.

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