Page 14 of To Tell the Truth
She smiled a small smile and took a step closer. "I'm glad we were able to catch up."
He wasn't sure he agreed with her. Catching up meant falling for this woman again and not being able to do anything about it.
"I'm glad we were able to catch up too."
Samantha stood up on her tip toes and brushed her lips against his cheek, his skin burning from the sensation even after she pulled away.
"Good night, Fletcher."
He tucked a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. "Good night."
Her smile this time wasn't so bright as she turned away from him and disappeared behind the hotel's doors.
Chapter Six
Samantha felt like her brain had abandoned her today. She was having trouble remembering which ingredients she had put in the frosting she was making for her Lemon Delights and almost substituted some salt for the sugar. Putting a little zest on top of the cupcakes though was an easy task so she figured it would be better to work on that next.
And no, she wasn't making Lemon Delights because they were Fletcher's favorite.
Except she was totally making Lemon Delights because they were Fletcher's favorite.
She shouldn't even be thinking about him though. He said goodbye to her that night at her hotel in Los Angeles back in July -- more than three months ago now! And yes, they would occasionally send a text back and forth. He sent her pictures on the shore of Lake Superior when he was home in Duluth. She sent him a note when she taught Georgia how to make his favorite coffee chocolate chip cookies.
She had been watching the schedule for the Chicago Otters waiting for the team's games against Fletcher's California Sunbursts. It was the second week of the season in October and Samantha was trying to find the perfect moment as the game got closer to send a text to Fletcher. Something like "Hey, did you know you were coming to my town soon?" or "Are you going to be in Chicago for the game?" That second one was especially stupid since of course he was going to be in town for the game and maybe Samantha shouldn't send any texts if she was going to send texts like that.
And then last week, Fletcher sent her a note.
Starting the season with a road trip and saw Chicago was on there. Maybe we could catch up over coffee?
She had said yes and they planned to meet tomorrow morning at a place near his hotel before he had to go to practice. Coffee was simple. This could be simple. They were friends after all so they could do simple things.
"Why are you angry at that lemon?"
"What?"
Samantha turned to find Georgia staring at her. "The cupcake," her friend said. "I think you overdid the lemon zest."
She looked down to find one of her Lemon Delights looked like a Lemon Disaster covered in way too much zest. The zester in her hand had juice on it from her zesting the lemon so hard that she worked completely through the rind.
She put the lemon and the zester down on the counter and slowly backed away.
"You OK?" Georgia asked.
"Yeah, yeah. Sorry. I just... my mind was wandering a bit there."
Georgia gave her a smile and walked over to put a gentle hand on her arm. "Just remember that Cora once confused the salt and the sugar when she was test baking before we opened the place and somehow that impressed my brother enough to date her."
"I'm never going to woo a man with this overboard Lemon Delight."
"The night is still young!" Georgia proclaimed sarcastically. "But seriously, toss that Lemon Monster one in the fridge for now. We'll make my brother eat it when he swings by tomorrow. Tell him it's your new flavor."
Samantha laughed and put the last cupcake in the fridge as instructed while Georgia started placing the good cupcakes in a box for her delivery tonight.
"At least we made some extras," she said as she closed the box. "I'm heading to this birthday party. Can you lock everything up?"
Samantha jogged over to open the back door for her friend who had her hands full with the last cupcakes for delivery. "I'll get it all closed up."
"Thanks!" Georgia yelled over her shoulder.
