Page 28 of Say You Remember Me
Sloan must have noticed because after giving me a knowing look, she said, “If you feel like drying the glasses, too, the dish towels are in the left drawer.”
“Perfect,” I said, trying to keep my tone casual even though my focus was already shifting toward the stairs.
And then, just a moment later, Maddie appeared at the bottom of the steps, her gaze sweeping the room before landing on me. My attention sharpened the moment I saw her, and fromthe way Sloan’s Cheshire-cat grin grew, she definitely hadn’t missed it.
“Well, I think it’s about time for me to head to bed,” Sloan said with a mischievous lilt in her voice. “Ian was so kind to offer to wash the rest of the dishes so we can wake up to a clean kitchen. Isn’t that thoughtful of him?”
“Oh, you don’t have to do that.” Maddie stepped farther into the kitchen, thankfully missing the obvious hints Sloan was dropping. “I came down here to finish cleaning up.”
“Perhaps you two can work together, then?” Sloan raised an eyebrow.
Maddie looked at me and shrugged. “Okay, sure.”
I nodded, trying to keep my cool, even though the idea of spending a few more minutes alone with her had me far more excited than it should have.
9
IAN
Come on,Hastings, get it together.I took a breath, giving myself a mental shake as I stepped up to the counter.It’s just washing dishes, not closing a multi-million-dollar deal.
I grabbed the first wine glass from the counter, trying to act like I’d done this a million times and not like I’d always had a housekeeper to wash my dishes for me.
I mean, it’s not like it’s rocket science? How hard could it be?
“So, what’s the trick?” I asked. “Any special technique I need to know?” And while I’d tried to keep my tone casual, the slight tremor in my grip betrayed me.
Why was I suddenly so jittery? I’d been alone with plenty of women through the years, so why was I suddenly so nervous to be alone with this cute, single mom?
“It’s not super complicated.” Maddie gave a soft laugh, stepping up next to me. “Just warm water and a little soap. But be careful, the glasses can get slippery.”
Her voice was light, teasing almost, like she found it comical that a twenty-eight-year-old man would be so inexperienced with washing the dishes.
Which, yes, was quite ridiculous, now that I thought about it. But since I’d offered to help clean up, I needed to figure this out.
So I picked up the sponge, added a little soap and water to it and started scrubbing the inside of the glass.
“There, you’ve got it,” Maddie said, leaning in closer to peek over at my work. “Easy-peasy.”
But when her shoulder brushed mine a second later and I felt the warmth radiating from her, something in my brain must have short-circuited because before I knew it, my grip fumbled and the glass slipped right out of my hands, hitting the side of the sink before shattering into pieces.
“Ah sh—”I started to say before reaching down to pick up the glass shards. But my depth perception must have been off because I ended up slicing the edge of my palm against one of the jagged pieces.
“Ahh!” I jerked back, wincing as a sharp stinging pain shot through my hand.
“Oh no!” Maddie’s voice rose, her hand flying to my arm. “Did you cut yourself?”
“I think so.” I held my hand up for her to see. And yep, there was a small trickle of blood on the edge of my palm.
“Okay, it doesn’t look too bad,” she said, inspecting my cut with concern etched on her face. “But let’s get a closer look to make sure you don’t need stitches or anything like that. “
She turned the water up, guiding my hand under the stream. The sting of the water hit hard, making me almost wince again, but her fingers were gentle as she inspected it.
“I don’t think it’s too deep,” she said, her voice soft but firm. “Just a surface cut. But we’ll need to make sure it’s clean before we bandage you up.”
And she must have switched into full mom mode because instead of having me wash my hand myself, she grabbed some foaming soap and gently did it for me. Which was...surprisinglynice. I hadn’t had someone care for me like this in…well, probably not since I was a kid.
She pulled a paper towel from the roll beside the sink and carefully wrapped it around my hand, applying warm, steady pressure to the cut. It was only then that she seemed to realize how nurturing she’d been.
