Page 24 of Cozy Girl Fall
“I don’t think it’s any of your business, Shel,” Ethan said, so softly Penny almost missed the words. “I’m sorry you’re hurting. But what I feel for Penny is between me and her.”
What I feel for Penny—what did he feel for her? And why did the words fill her with relief? OK, now she reallydidneed to leave. But she also really wanted some fresh herbs for the meal. She hovered in place, deliberating for a few moments longer, before deciding to bite the bullet and move round the corner. It had been quiet for a little while now, so with any luck Ethan and Shelby had moved on.
The wheels of her cart squeaked a little as she gotit moving again and barreled into the next aisle with the careless abandon of someone whodefinitely hadn’tbeen eavesdropping, only to find her performance was for nothing and the aisle was empty.
She grabbed the herbs she wanted and checked her mental list, realizing she’d got everything she needed. Except …
“Wine,” she muttered, heading back out of the aisle and turning left to grab the last-minute addition to her list. Then, as soon as possible, she was getting the hell out of here.
Grocery stores, she thought and sighed.Trouble every time.
Her mom was still out when Penny got home, so she unloaded the groceries from her car without any interference, swapping her boots for slippers as she came in the door. After she’d laid out everything she needed on the counter and set the oven to preheat, she tied her old apron round her waist and smiled at the small hole in the top of the pocket on the front. She’d had the thing for years and had secretly been a little bummed that she’d forgotten it when she’d moved out. Penny had assumed her mom would have thrown it out—it had certainly seen better days—but instead it had been left hanging on its usual peg on the back of the kitchen door, like it had been waiting for her all this time.
The methodical movements were like muscle memory for her, she’d made the recipe so many times, and itsoothed her. Brain shut off, internal worries fading, Penny focused on slicing and flattening the chicken breasts and heating oil in a pan. It had been a long time since cooking had felt calming for her; she was too used to the extreme pressures of cooking for hundreds of people and constantly being told she was doing it wrong by her boss—despite never receiving a single complaint from the customers.Thiswas what she loved, and as she placed the chicken into the hot oil to fry, she wondered why she was fighting so hard to get back to a career that had been slowly killing her.
11
If Penny hadn’t cooked last night’s dinner herself, she might have been worried that the flips in her stomach were from food poisoning—that, and the constant nausea. Unfortunately, the real cause stood less than three feet away with his back to her as he pulled down apples at a rate that was impressive, bordering on super-human.
“Hey.”
The muscles in Ethan’s back tensed and relaxed beneath his flannel shirt in the time it took her to blink. “Hey.”
Silence flowed between them, heavier than usual and filled with all the things he’d said—and everything she hadn’t.
“So you’re done hiding from me then?” He turned and she steeled herself for the reproachment she was certain she’d find on his face, only to be shocked when she instead found only soft amusement. “I have to say, you scaled that tree pretty fast.”
“I was very motivated.”
He laughed and some of her tension leaked awayas the sound spread out around them, catching in the branches of the trees. “What can I do for you, Penny? Unless you’ve changed your mind about—”
“I haven’t changed my mind,” she said quickly, not wanting to hear him say the words again as she clasped her gloved hands tightly together and fidgeted with the leaves on the ground with her boots. “I … Well, actually I was hoping for a favor.”
His brows lifted and his cocky smirk grew as he leant on the side of the ladder like he had all the time in the world. “Oh?”
“Tasha mentioned you had a friend in New York that runs a restaurant and that maybe you could put in a good word for me.”
“Yeah, she might have mentioned that to me.”
Her breath left her in a rush of relief. “Oh, that’s great.”
“What word do you want me to use?”
She stilled, unsure, and he prowled forward with purpose, stopping just a few breaths away from her. His jeans were wet around the hem from the dewy grass and the long sleeves of his blue flannel shirt and white Henley were pushed up, revealing his tanned and toned forearms, andgoddamnshe just couldn’t stop her eyes from lingering on them as he looked at her.
“Infuriating?” His eyes flashed and she held her breath when he reached up to tuck a strand of loose hair behind her ear. “Beautiful?”
“Um,” she said, her voice cracking and makingher wince. “I was thinking more like ‘talented’ or ‘punctual’.”
His lips twitched as he scrubbed a hand over the slight stubble on his jaw. “Are you?”
“Am I what?”
His lips twitched as he raised one eyebrow at her. “Talented and punctual.”
“I—Y-yes.”
“Then prove it.” He backed away, smile widening as he took in her flustered state. “Have dinner with me.” He lifted a hand before she could protest. “Aplatonicdinner, if it makes you feel better.”
