Page 29 of Falling for You
“I’m in!” Max exclaimed.
Evan couldn’t wait to kick that jerk’s butt. Anyone who messed with CeCe deserved to get knocked down a peg or two. “I’m definitely in.”
Ginny clapped and bounced on her feet. “What a morning. I think I need a nap after all the excitement.”
Max walked to Ginny’s side and wrapped his arm around her waist. “Does this mean your web developer woes have been resolved?” He winked at Evan, who felt like things couldn’t get much better.
“They certainly did. Evan is signing the contract today. We found our web developer.”
CeCe looked at Evan and asked, “What did I miss?”
Alot, Evan thought. He couldn’t wait to fill her in on all the details. Without thinking too hard about it, he said, “I’ll tell you about it at dinner. Want to come over to my place tonight? We can look at those menus.” He gestured to the papers with a steady hand, proud of himself for playing it cool.
CeCe nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”
So much had happened in the last twenty-four hours, and things couldn’t possibly get better. He’d kissed CeCe, landed a web contract, and now they got to compete in a major food truck competition.
When Ginny and Max excused themselves to Max’s office, CeCe came up and proved Evan wrong. She linked her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a quick kiss on the lips. “I’ll swing by around seven o’clock. Is that okay?”
Evan’s lips tingled from the brief contact. “That’s perfect.” For the rest of the day, Evan couldn’t wipe the sappy smile off his face. He didn’t think anything could get better than this.
CHAPTER 8
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When CeCe got backto her place, she heard her phone buzz with an incoming text. Hoping to see Evan’s number flash on the screen, she was surprised when it was Max.You’re sure about the competition?
CeCe kicked her shoes off and padded to the couch, where she fell back into the pillows and sighed at the peace of her living room. Her brain ran a million miles an hour, and she liked being back home. She was touched that Max was concerned over the competition, and it threw her past with Eric into sharper contrast. Even during their best times together, he still wouldn’t let her arbitrarily call off work. The benefit of hindsight proved how blind she was toward Eric’s garbage behavior.
Before she could change her mind, she grabbed her laptop and pulled up the competition’s website. With her free hand, she texted Max back to confirm she was, indeed, all right.Yes, I’m registering us now. We just need to find a food truck.She included a few emojis to highlight how fine she really was with everything. If she couldn’t hide behind a winky face and thumbs-up emoji—what was the point of texting?
A moment later, Max replied with,I’ve got a couple contacts. I’ll email you the details. Want to work on this with Evan?
Naturally she did. Not only did CeCe relish opportunities to work with Evan, she’d started to crave seeing him socially. His charms had burrowed their way past her defenses, and she was done pretending she wasn’t enjoying herself. Not even her most productive day in the kitchen could compete with the high she felt laying with him in a pillow fort, or sharing a meal in her home. Eric never made her feel cherished like this, and that drove home the point that she needed to let Evan all the way inside her life.
With a quick reply to Max,Yep, Evan and I got this,CeCe got back into work mode. Evan would appreciate the chance to work with her on this, because he was so generous with his time, thoughtful when it came to collaborating. There had been a few times when she wondered what a smart guy like him was doing at the diner, but it wasn’t her place to question or judge. She had a whole host of reasons she was in Buckeye Falls. Best to leave people’s motives alone.
