Page 38 of You Were Invited
“If I were to cook, what would you, in theory, like me to make?” Annie grabbed the clean, self-sticking bandage and unrolled it.
Julian shook his head again. “Don’t worry. I bet there’s a frozen microwave dinner buried in my freezer.”
A deep stomach growl betrayed him.
“Everybody needs to eat,” Annie replied. “Even big, strong lumberjacks who refuse to let someone cook for him — I mean them.”
To hide his amusement, he narrowed his eyes at her. Again, she was unconvinced, and smiled harder.How can she see right through me?He then shot back, “Guilting me with flattery, huh? I know I’m handsome and I don’t need someone to feed me to feel that way.”
“I didn’t say you were handsome… I said you were strong…” She refused to look at him, though granted, she was concentrating on wrapping his palm.
“I know. But you were thinkin’ about it.”
Aghast, Annie let out a snort. She still couldn’t look at him. “I wasn’t — I am just here to help you...” Her face was bright pink, and he thought it was cute as she tripped over her words. After another few seconds, she gathered herself.
“Fine. You can starve for all I care.” She finally lifted her eyes and peered up at him through her lashes.
He swallowed. The look in her eyes was intriguing, but it quickly left. In fact, he wondered if he’d imagined it. It was replaced with some other emotion that he couldn’t quite put his finger on.
Sadness? No, more out of reach than that. She looked away a second later.
They didn’t speak until Annie had finished bandaging. It wasn’t too loose or too tight.
“There. Almost as good as new.”
Julian turned his hand over, inspecting it. There was some bandage leftover, and he guessed he wouldn’t need to change itagain for another day, so long as he kept it clean. “Thank you, Annie. I appreciate it.”
“Welcome.” She tucked her hair again. “Now, for someone who believes I can out-cook a professional restaurant owner, you’re sure being stubborn about letting me cook for you.”
Julian raised a brow, genuinely lost in what she meant. Annie was a splendid cook, but he didn’t understand the first half of her statement.
She caught on to his confusion. “When we stopped at the diner, you told Ellie I could beat her in a chili-cooking contest. You remember, right? You were pretty dopey.”
He drew a blank. She could’ve been screwing with him, and he wouldn’t... Did he remember? He grasped at a hazy memory as it surfaced. “... Was a throw down mentioned?”
Annie giggled again. “You specifically said that I’d ‘throw it down... town.’ I’m not sure what Ellie thought of it, but she laughed, too.”
Julian chuckled, partially because it was amusing, but also to cover up his worry. He couldn’t remember what came out of his mouth; had he been that out of it? It was one thing to lose chunks of some short-term events, but it was quite another for the medication to loosen his lips.
Shit. I just took more of it…
“No pressure,” Annie said. A light smile turned up the corners of her mouth. “I get it. But I could cook you something really cool, or at least I think so.”
Her words rang familiar. He rolled his eyes. “I see what you’re doin’. Using my own tactics against me...” He played along. “Are you just hyping it up?”
She looked contemplative for a minute. “Maybe.”
I don’t want to take advantage of her, but she’s persistent.“I don't want to waste your time.”
“I’m okay,” she replied.
Her kindness was touching, but everyone expected something in return for their good deed. If he accepted, he feared he would disappoint her down the road.
Down the road? I’m talking like she’s already my girlfriend. She won’t be sticking around. I know that. She has a home, and it’s not with me.
He looked at her squarely. She was a smart girl — as smart as she was stubborn. “I don’t need you to feel obligated to take care of me, and I won’t be offended if you don’t want to stick around.” When she frowned, he added, “I just don’t want to owe you.”
fifteen
