Page 54 of How Sweet It Is

I pick up a towel and snap it at her. “Let me handle my own dating life.”

“Then stop hedging and do it right.” Kiki waves at me before leaving out the front.

The problem is, I can’t stop thinking about that kiss and the feelings it brought up in me. Yet the way Amelia acted afterward tells me she regretted it as soon as it was done.The end.She even said those words to me. There’s nothing else to say now.

I’melbow deep in ganache when I hear thecreakof the swinging door. Not the bursting-open kind announcing Kiera or the rattle of the delivery guy dropping off flour. This is the quieter kind. TheAmeliakind.

I don’t look up, mostly because I’m still mad at her. Or pretending to be. My pride’s a little bruised, and my ego’s in a full-body cast.

She doesn’t say anything right away, just stands there, probably watching me like I’m some puzzle she still can’t solve.

Finally, she clears her throat. “Hey.”

I scrape the spatula along the bowl a little harder than I need to. “Hey.”

Silence again. I let it stretch, hoping it might strangle the awkward right out of the room. No such luck.

“I made you coffee,” she says, walking over and setting it on the counter like a peace offering. It’s the Smoky Mountain blend I ordered in. It’s a bold roast with notes of dark chocolate with a smoky edge, and it’s now my favorite.

I glance at it. “Bribery?”

She looks at the floor. “More like an apology. Just… caffeine-filled.”

I arch a brow but don’t respond. She fiddles with the sleeve of her business suit jacket like it personally betrayed her.

“I’ve been thinking about last night,” she says, eyes glued to the countertop.

I go very still, every cell in my body suddenly tuned to her frequency.

“And I wanted to say I’m sorry for the way I handled it. I was awkward and defensive, and I said things I didn’t mean.”

“Like how the kiss wasn’t good?” I ask, sharper than I intend.

Her head snaps up. “I didn’t mean that.”

I meet her eyes, and for once, she doesn’t look away. “You sure sold it like you did.”

“I panicked,” she says softly. “It scared me.”

“What? The kiss?”

“No.You.” Her voice wavers then steadies. “I didn’t expect it to feel like that. Like I was standing on the edge of something real and if I took one more step, I’d fall.”

I blink. Okay. Not the response I saw coming.

“I make jokes when I’m scared,” she adds, voice quiet. “It’s what I do.”

“I noticed.”

She winces. “You were right to be mad.”

I set the bowl down and wipe my hands on a towel just to have something to do. “I wasn’t mad.”

She raises a brow.

“Okay, fine. I was… something. Disappointed, maybe? I don’t kiss people for fun, Amelia.”

“Sure you do. That’s totally what you do.”

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