Page 44 of Falling For You

“Did it make you ease up on trying to find out what’s going on?”

I took a sip and grinned widely. “Nope.”

Owen laughed, throwing his head back as he nodded. “You’re stubborn.”

“Only when I need to be. It’s not likeyouaren’t,” I pointed out.

He nodded, bringing his eyes back to mine. “Is the coffee helping to warm you up?”

“Between the hot shower and the coffee, I just might thaw out by tonight.”

I didn’t want to mention that being in his arms soaking wet was hot enough to keep my mind off things like falling headfirst into a trough.

“I’m glad I happened to be there.”

“Me too.” I shook my head. “I’m just glad my family wasn’t around to see it. I don’t think I’d ever live it down.”

“Secret is safe with me.”

I eyed him and smiled. “Promise?”

He nodded as my laptop dinged.

I glanced over to see a message. “Sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but I need to check something.”

He nodded. “Duty calls. I get it. I’ve been meaning to check my email.”

I laughed and stood. “I’m sure you have, but mine’s not like that. I just never get messages on this account. It’s for my blog.”

“Oh, so if you have to look at messages for work, it’s okay because you don’t get many, but if I do, I’m a workaholic?” he teased, and I realized I really liked seeing this lighter side of Owen.

I glanced over my shoulder, noticing Owen taking me in, and I couldn’t help but feel that familiar flutter.

“Exactly. This is a once-a-year phenomenon,” I informed him.

Owen laughed. “Oh, come on. You can’t just get one message a year.”

I used the touchpad and went over to my email. “Oh, yeah? I can show you. I just haven’t put as much time and energy into this as I should.”

“Is that something you really want to do?”

“Yeah, it is.” I nodded, scanning for the inbox. That’s how infrequently I used the software. “But I just don’t know where to start. I need to make things snappy. I have to post videos nowadays. I need to sound funny. My recipes have to be stellar. I need to go viral and…” My voice trailed off as I read the message.

“Well?” he asked.

I lifted my gaze to his and playfully pouted. “And my annual message was spam. How did they get this address?” I groaned and shut the lid, taking the laptop with me before I sat down with it.

I’d somehow scooted a little closer to Owen on the couch, and I could nearly feel the warmth rolling off his body. He wasn’t kidding when he said he ran hot.

“You know, I’m pretty good at growing businesses. We could brainstorm some ideas and get your business plan together before I leave town.”

“Business plan? It’s a blog.”

He cocked his head slightly and smiled. “Right, but why wouldn’t you need to implement the same structure as if you were doing a brick-and-mortar or online retail? Your job is to sell recipes, right? A lifestyle, possibly?” He nodded toward thelaptop. “And as you do that, sponsors and brand deals will come. Maybe you could write a cookbook? Who knows? But it all starts with the first step.”

I stared at Owen for a few seconds as his words went through me. “Wow.”

“Wow, I was being redundant and condescending, or wow, I was helpful?”

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