Page 38 of Fire and Icing

“Our rules,” she says with a softer smile than earlier.

“Our rules, right. I’m sure we’ll be fine. You’re a rule-follower.”

I regret the way it sounds the minute the words are out of my mouth. I mean it as a compliment. My brother, Stevens, is a rule-follower. He’s done amazing things with his life. Always coloring inside the lines seems to have served him well.

“I’m not always a rule-follower,” Emberleigh says, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning back in her chair with an air of challenge.

I have to be honest, I think I like this feisty side of her a little too much.

“Really?” I raise my brows and stare into her bright green eyes.

“I break rules sometimes,” she insists.

I doubt it. And there’s nothing wrong with following rules. It’s actually usually a pretty helpful way to live. Not very exciting at times, but probably better in the long run.

“Do you?” I taunt her playfully, adding a smile to make sure she knows I’m teasing.

“I have … I … Well, I have. And anyway, rules help keep order. And safety. They make systems run efficiently. Imagine if we all just went around breaking rules.”

“Agreed. I wasn’t saying there was anything wrong about being a rule-follower. I meant it as a compliment, actually.”

“I bet you did.”

“No, really. My older brother’s a rule-follower and he’s my hero. Don’t tell him that, please. If we ever happen to be on another call with them, I’d be highly grateful if you didn’t share my admiration with Stevens.”

“Why not? Wouldn’t he love to hear that his younger brother looks up to him?”

“I think he’d love it a little too much.”

“Ahhh. Okay. I won’t say a thing.”

I don’t intend for her to ever have another interaction with my family, but on the off chance, I’m glad we cleared that up.

“Thank you.” I smile at Emberleigh and she smiles back.

Then I stand and extend my hand for her plate.

“What are you doing?” she asks.

“I’m going to clean up.”

“I’ll get these. Don’t worry.”

“How about we clean up together,” I suggest.

Emberleigh grabs her plate and a few other things, and I take the rest and follow her through the opening between the display cases into her industrial kitchen.

She turns on the water in the sink while I scrape the plates into a trash can.

“People around here are going to think we’re actually dating,” she says as I hand her a dish. “We can’t keep anything a secret in this town. We might sign an NDA to keep details quiet until the show airs, but people around here will find out somehow.”

“That’s the point, isn’t it? We need to be convincing.”

“Yes. But how will that work in our day-to-day lives? I really should have given this more thought.”

“We’ll just figure it out as we go,” I say.

Emberleigh shakes her head. “We can’t just play this by ear.” She pauses, obviously considering details I haven’t fathomed.

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