My eyes narrowed. I went from feeling bad to wondering what his angle was. We hadn’t parted on the greatest of terms last night.
And I knew it was my fault, but he’d been extremely invasive!
And now he was in my kitchen.
Cooking for my daughter.
“Your eggs are so much better.” Amelia moaned around another bite.
“Amelia.” I kept my voice even and forced myself not to look at Drew; it hurt this early, physically hurt to see his beauty. “Don’t you have friends over?”
She waved me off. “They slept in, and I got up early for a run and ran into Drew, literally, since he was on his run, and then he asked if I’d eaten, and here we are!”
She spread her arms out in triumph.
I smiled as she poked another piece of bacon away from the griddle where Drew was cooking, earning a smack from his spatula. She stuck out her tongue, but he just winked his flirty wink.
Something stabbed me in the chest.
Anger…?
No, why would I be angry?
I wanted them to get along, didn’t I?
What was this feeling?
This… oh no, oh no, no, no, no. Jealousy? Was I jealous of my own daughter? Of the way she laughed with him so freely, when all I did was waste every ounce of energy I had on keeping my shields up as if that would save me from a guy like Drew Amhurst.
I gulped and guiltily looked away. What was I even doing right now? Every time one of us opened up, I ruined it.
“Gorgeous,” Drew barked.
I didn’t look up.
“He’s talking to you, Mom…” Amelia laughed. “I swear you don’t realize how beautiful you are sometimes. All right, I’m off to go shower, and Drew, it was a pleasure. Next time, maybe you’ll beat me when we race.”
He pointed the spatula at her. “You tripped me twice, then threw sand in my face, then wondered why I nearly impaled myself on a seashell.”
“It was like this big.” She rolled her eyes and held out her fingers, making a small inch measurement.
He sputtered. “You lie!”
“Maybe.” She laughed. “All right, Mom, I haven’t gotten any calls. You?”
I deflated. “No, but maybe that’s a good thing?”
“Maybe…” Her smile fell a bit, and then she was hugging me before walking away, leaving me alone with the rockstar and his eggs.
His really good-looking eggs.
And his gorgeous face.
A nose ring.
Perfect biceps.
Tattoos for days.
Why was I chasing him away again?
“I’m not on the menu.” He tsked with a smirk. “So, if you’re gonna look, I’m going to have to charge you, B.”
I tilted my head to the left and regarded him, one eyebrow raised.
He offered a nonchalant shrug. “Bronte’s too much of a mouthful. Plus, it sounds so stupid polite.” He started piling a plate with eggs and bacon. “I’ve given it a lot of thought, and you’re more of a B.”
“B?”
“B-Dog.” He nodded. “Like B-Magic, B‘man, B‘woman, you get the gist.”
“Not really.” I fought to keep from smiling. “Does that mean I get to call you D?”
He shoved the plate in front of me then leaned forward so I could smell his perfect cologne and see the dimple at the corner of his full mouth. “That depends. Do I get something out of it, B?”
I licked my lips.
“Maybe don’t do that,” he whispered. “Just makes me want to take a bite.”
“Of bacon?”
“Of your mouth.” His eyes darted lower. “And other things.”
“Amelia’s in the other—”
“We have an understanding.”
“Huh?”
“I talked with her, told her I was going to get you pregnant and be her new daddy.”
“WHAT!”
He released an evil chortle that morphed into riotous laughter. “Okay, first of all, take a joke. Second, she would have slapped me across the face like someone else did last night. No, I just told her what my intentions were.”
I squirmed in my seat and poked at my eggs with my fork, gripping it so tight my fingers ached. “And what are those?”
“Come here.” He crooked his finger.
I leaned forward, holding my breath, anticipation making my whole body tingle, only to have him whisper, “It’s a secret.”
I jerked back. “But—”
“Eat. We have a full day today!”
“We do?” I frowned. “But Amelia has her appointment. I can’t miss it, and tomorrow’s—”
“Your birthday and the next day’s your anniversary.” His smile was infectious. “So, we’re going to continue this Little Bronte Gets Her Groove Back plan, but I’m going to put something into place. Think of it as a new rule.”
“I’m listening.” I took a bite of egg and waited.
“No touching.”
I choked down the egg and reached for my juice then rasped, “I’m sorry?”
“Me too. So…” He eyed me up and down. “…damn sorry… sorry for days, months, years, maybe even centuries.”
“Drew?” I snapped my fingers.
“Anyway.” His smile was back. “I think it’s making you think too hard about all the reasons you couldn’t, shouldn’t, can’t. Ergo, I’m going to take temptation away.”
I snorted out a laugh. “Just like that?”
He gave a curt nod and crossed his arms. “Just like that.”
“So, your plan is for me to just have really good self-control?”
His eyes lit up. “Of course. Should be easy, right?”
“Can you touch me?”
“Sadly, no, the rule goes both ways.”
“And if I want to break it?”
“Then break it, but once you do…” A triumphant grin washed over his face. “…no going back.”
“Okay, once I cross the line…”
“You’re basically stuck with me touching you all the time. Your choice, cupcake.” He rubbed his hands together. “All right, I’m going to go shower my sweat off. You’re, of course, more than welcome to join me, just remember the rules, and I’ll be ready in about fifteen minutes to go with you to Amelia’s appointment. And then we have a date!”
“We do, do we?” I couldn’t help my smile.
“Oh, yes,” He grabbed a book and held it up. “I have plans for us.”
“Why does that look so fa—” Horrified, I jumped out of my seat and ran around the island full speed.
“Aw, you’re so short.” He held it
