Page 53 of The I Do Over

That…was surprising. “You’re cooking?”

He chuckled. “Mads, you know I can cook.”

“I knew you could grill a steak and fry some fish…”

“Well, yeah. But that’s not all.” He held the front door for her and followed her inside, putting her weekender bag at the foot of the stairs. “I’m no gourmet chef and I’m just making some penne a la vodka, but I’m a single guy. I need to know how to cook at least a little bit.”

In the kitchen, Maddie saw the table was set and there were fresh flowers in the center of it. While she admired the bouquet, Knox poured her a glass of wine and handed it to her when she sat. “Okay, talk to me.”

And before she knew it, everything came pouring out—how overwhelmed she was with her mom’s care and not having anyone else to help her, how her father was less than sympathetic, and how much she was struggling to balance everything.

Including him.

“I’m trying so hard to keep juggling everything,” she went on. “But keeping all the balls in the air was hard enough before you and I reconnected.”

His expression was grim. “So, what are you saying? Is this…I mean…are we…over?”

“What?” she cried. “No! No, that’s not what I was getting at, Knox. I swear!”

“Then…”

Sighing, she put her glass down. “I didn’t plan for this. Us. My life is complicated and my time isn’t always my own. I need to know that you understand that and maybe…maybe you’ll need to cut me a little slack sometimes when I just need a quiet weekend or when our plans have to change.”

Then she held her breath and waited because this was kind of a test—an unplanned one, but a test nonetheless.

Neither said a word for several long moments, and Maddie wasn’t sure if Knox was even going to acknowledge what she said.

But he did.

Leaning forward with a stern expression on his face, he met her gaze head on. “I believe I told you just last week how I am invested in this relationship. I want to be with you and I want us to see where this can go. I’m not an ogre, Madalyn. If something’s going on and you need a weekend to just sit and veg out, then that’s what we’ll do. Hell, between DoorDash and Netflix, we don’t really even need to go anywhere.” Straightening, he raked a hand through his hair as he blew out a long breath. “If we need to change plans, then we change them.” Then he paused. “Is this about meeting my friends this weekend? Because I’ll call them all right now and tell them we can’t make it.”

When he stood and went to get his phone, Maddie immediately jumped up to stop him. “That’s not what this is about! Jeez! Are you sure this isn’t about you not wanting me to meet your friends? You seem to be more than willing to cancel on them.”

With those massive arms crossed over his chest, he gave her a bland look. “Mads, I feel a little out of my element in this whole thing, okay? I don’t bring women around to hang out with my friends. Ever.” Then he shook his head. “Okay, that’s not totally true. I mean…”

“I don’t need specifics, Knox.”

“All I’m saying is that I’m nervous about this too. The guys are going to poke fun at me because I’ve been so vocal about how lame I thought they both were for getting involved and married so damn fast. I always swore that would never be me and now…”

Her heart was hammering hard because it sounded like he was saying…

“Now, I get it,” he said gruffly. “I can see how it’s possible. Although, our situation is a little different. I mean, we have a history. We were married and…I don’t know…I think if things had been different, we still would be.”

“You…you do?”

He nodded. “I don’t see why we wouldn’t. I mean…even when I was mad as hell at you when you showed up a few weeks ago, there were things that I couldn’t deny. The attraction was definitely still there and once we actually sat and talked…” He shrugged. “It’s almost as if no time has passed. We kind of slid right back into things without it being awkward.”

He definitely had a point there.

He continued, “The great part about where we’re at now is that we’ve got a lot to learn about each other while already knowing who we are at our core. Some people never really get to that point and I think we’ve nailed it.”

How was it possible that this man was still single?

Because he was waiting for me…

It wasn’t something she’d come right out and ask him, but…it did seem to fit.

Walking back over to the kitchen table, Knox sat back down and gave her a boyish grin. “If we had logistics on our side, we’d be unstoppable.”

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