“Archer,” Meredith chided. “Manners.”
“Emergency measures,” he said when he’d shut off the water and straightened. His expression could have belonged to Liam when he’d high-fived. “Hotter ’n hell.” He grabbed the checkered towel folded over the edge of the sink and wiped his chin. “A little sticky. But they taste pretty good.”
Meredith crossed her arms. “And why do you make that sound surprising?”
His laugh was rich and full and it curled right around Nell.
He dropped a kiss on his stepmother’s head. “I adore you almost as much as my old man does, but even he would agree that not all of your kitchen experiments have been towering successes.”
Meredith gave her husband an equally arch look. “Is that so?”
Carter’s smile was slow. He crossed the room toward her. “Do you want me to say I fell in love with you because of your baking skills?” He closed his hands over her shoulders. “Or do you want me to tell the truth and say I fell in love with you for your—”
Meredith raised her hand. “That’s enough,” she warned with a musical laugh. But then she went up on her toes and caught his face between her hands, pressing her lips to his.
The kiss didn’t last long. It wasn’t some display of crazy-hot passion.
But the sheer intimacy in the look that passed between Meredith and Carter made Nell ache inside.
This. The word whispered through her. This is what it should all be about.
She found her eyes sliding toward Archer.
He’d hooked open the refrigerator door and was pulling out the milk jug. He poured himself a small glassful, sent an inquiring look Nell’s way, and at her bemused headshake, returned the jar to the refrigerator. Then he scooped up another forkful of brownie and, this time, chased it with the cold milk.
“Definitely better,” he said. “But if they don’t have real sugar or flour in them, what do they have?”
“I’ve learned it’s better not to ask these things,” Carter cautioned humorously. He’d circled his arms around his wife’s shoulders, holding her loosely against his chest. “Thought I’d taught you that, as well.”
“You know me.” Archer’s gaze landed on Nell’s face. “I like living dangerously.”
Meredith’s eyes sparkled with merriment above her husband’s forearms as she looked toward Nell. “What are we going to do with these men?”
Nell managed a smile that she didn’t feel. Neither of these men—Archer in particular—was hers with which to do anything. “You said you’re preparing for a women’s event?”
“I am, indeed.” Meredith ducked out from Carter’s embrace to begin cutting the brownies and scooping them onto a plate. “I’m very excited about it. Thanks to Vivian’s financial support, we’ll be able to bring in a few national speakers. We’ll have free health screenings, a mobile mammogram truck, yoga sessions, art sessions, cooking, child care naturally. All sorts of things. It’s a first, of course, but I’m hoping that it’ll be successful and we can repeat it every year.”
“Sounds great. If there’s anything I can do to help—”
“Bless you, sweetie. There’s always room for help.” Meredith suddenly looked at Archer. “I bet she could help with your session, honey.” Her head swiveled back toward Nell. “He’s giving a workshop on navigating the legal system when it comes to child custody issues and child support.” She clasped her hands, actually rising up on her bare toes in her enthusiasm. “It would be perfect! Women are often more comfortable talking to another woman about some things. Archer, you know that. You’ve talked about it so often. The two of you could be partners. Work as a team.”
Archer’s inquiring gaze caught Nell’s and held it. “Well? What do you say? Do you finally want to be my partner?”
Her mouth turned dry.
He’d asked her that once. To be his partner.
It had been shortly after they’d slept together.
Shortly after Ros—who hadn’t even known about her stepbrother and her best friend—had told Nell about the latest fling Archer was having with one of their professors.
Nell had been a month from graduating. She’d still needed to pass the bar exam.
She’d needed to remember that following her head never hurt the way trusting with her heart had.
She’d turned him down.
And chosen Martin instead. Martin, who’d been a mentor. Martin, whom Nell owed for having kept a roof over her head. Martin, whose approval Nell had wanted almost as badly as Ros had wanted his love.
“Yes,” she said. Her head felt a little dizzy. As if she really were spiraling down into Archer’s green, green gaze. “I’ll be your partner.”
Meredith clapped her hands happily and the sound seemed to echo inside the warm, inviting kitchen.
Or maybe it was just inside Nell’s head.
“This’ll be just perfect,” the older woman was exclaiming. “The two of you together? You know exactly what you’re getting.”
But now that Nell had agreed, and she realized that deviltry had entered Archer’s eyes, she wasn’t sure at all what exactly she’d be getting.
Chapter Ten
Meredith insisted they celebrate the decision with more brownies and coffee.
The coffee was welcome. Particularly when the sticky brownies dried out and turned hard just as soon as they were fully cooled and needed something to help wash them down.
It was close to midnight when Archer finally managed to get them out the door and on the road back to Weaver.
“Sorry about that,” he said once they were actually driving away from the house.
Nell hugged her to-go cup that Meredith had sent with them. The hot coffee it contained was sweet and light, exactly as Nell liked. “About what? Getting saddled with me for your workshop at the women’s expo?”
“If you didn’t want to do it, you could have said so.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t want to do it. I said you—” She broke off, shaking her head and looking out the window. “Never mind.”
“Nobody saddled me with you. Not even Meredith. She had a good idea and I agreed with her. So are we partners or not?”
He was the one who sounded annoyed.
She decided pointing it out was not a smart route
