Page 14 of More Than Words
I definitely wasn’t sure about that.But it’s not like I had much of a choice.
“This will be fun.”
I didn’t look at him.But I knew he was smiling.I could hear it in his voice.And damn it if my stupid heart didn’t have the nerve to flutter in response.
Ethan
“Delaney.”
I reached for her, but the moment the meeting was adjourned, she jumped up and was halfway down the aisle to the door before I managed to extract myself from the tiny chair and go after her.
I wasn’t going to let her walk away like this without at least trying to apologize.After all, I had promised Quinn.But even if I hadn’t, now we were going to be working together and…
“Hey.”I managed to intercept her as she reached the door.“Delaney.”I tried to keep my tone casual but for some reason, my heart was pounding.Grayson was right; something about this woman got under my skin.“Can we talk for a minute?”
She stopped, and her shoulders stiffened.She didn’t look at me.I could see the tension in the set of her back, but at least she didn’t walk off right away.It wasn’t much, but I’d take it.
After a moment, she blew out an exasperated breath and turned to look at me.
“I’m sorry for yesterday.”My words came out a bit quicker than I’d meant.“I was…it was a bad day.Stress got the better of me, and I snapped at you.I’m sorry.I shouldn’t have been so short.You didn’t deserve that.”
Her expression softened, so I pressed on.“It looks like we’re going to be working together for the festival.Thank you for sharing a table with me.It means a lot that you?—”
“I didn’t really have a choice, did I?”
Her words were sharp, but I wasn’t going to be deterred.
“Regardless, I appreciate it.”I flashed her a smile, but she still didn’t crack.“Maybe we should try to start fresh.How about we grab a coffee later this week?We can go over our plans for the booth and see how we can work it all out together.”
She was a tough nut to crack.Maybe I’d pushed her further than I’d thought.There was a slight hesitation before she responded.I held my breath, half expecting her to shoot me down again.
Finally, her lips parted.“Okay.Coffee,” she said.“But you’re paying.”
I couldn’t help the smile that tugged at the corner of my mouth.It wasn’t much, but I’d take whatever crack in her exterior I could get.
“Deal,” I said.“Tomorrow?”
“Two o’clock.Let’s get this over with.”She turned quickly to leave, but before she slipped out the front door, I caught the faintest trace of a smile on her lips.
Maybe this would work out after all.
ChapterFive
Ethan
The tanks were in.Wired, plumbed, and humming and ready to work.
The last few days had been a whirlwind, but it had been worth it.For the first time in weeks, I let myself breathe.
The venting had been fixed.The big garage door window had been successfully installed.And after what felt like forever, the smell of grease in the old walls had been replaced with the scent of fresh paint and sawdust.
More and more, the space was starting to feel like a real brewery, rather than an old Chinese food restaurant.
Mybrewery.
I stood in the middle of the room and let myself enjoy the quiet moment.
Well, it wasn’t entirely quiet.Somewhere in the back, I could hear hammering and the sound of a truck backing up with the delivery of the bar tops that Reid had handcrafted.It was still chaotic.But at least it felt a little more like controlled chaos.
