“I’m serious,” she said, following me over to the sink as I washed my hands. “Are the women of Maple Grove blind?”
I glanced briefly at her over my shoulder before spinning around to face her, leaning against the sink’s edge. “I don’t know,” I said. “You’re a woman of Maple Grove. You tell me.”
The second the words left my mouth, I regretted them. She drew back, her eyes searching my face quickly. “I…I was with my cheating asshole of a boyfriend—then fiancé—for years. I wasn’t looking at anyone because I wasn’t single.”
I pressed my lips together nodding and made a quiet mmm sort of noise. “And now?” What was I doing? I didn’t want to date Chloe Dyker… did I?
No. No, I did not. Even if she did things to my blood pressure and made my pulse race like I was finishing first in a marathon. Not to mention, my brother would kill me.
Her breath shortened, causing that tight, lacy top to heave with each inhale. “Now…” she swallowed, her eyes dropping to my lips, and her hands fell to my arms, squeezing my biceps. “Now… I’m noticing.”
Behind us, in the hallway, I heard my sister squeal, “Neil, that’s so exciting!”
He must have finished telling them his plans for the training center. Chloe flinched, jumping back, her eyes cast to the floor. Slowly, she dragged her gaze back to mine and whispered, “Even if we’re both interested in… in that… with everything that’s happened with my sister and Neil…” Her words faded and she shook her head. “Truthfully, I really just need a friend.”
I nodded and forced my face to rearrange into a smile. The dreaded friend zone. “I think you mean a best friend,” I whispered back, correcting her. Chloe was so damn good at hiding her feelings. So good at seeming okay, it was easy to forget that only a few days ago, she’d learned she was being cheated on by her fiancé. Beneath her tough exterior, she was probably heartbroken. And here I was preying on her; taking advantage of that, even if it was unintentional.
I was rewarded with the most blindingly beautiful grin that warmed me from the inside out. “So … you finally submit to the idea that we’re going to be best friends?”
Considering I only had a couple of guy friends from high school, and all of my culinary school friends had moved away to bigger cities, it was easy to find myself nodding. With my crazy schedule and the 3:00 a.m. wake up calls… I barely saw the friends I did have.
I had to admit, in the limited amount of time Chloe and I had hung out, we actually made pretty good friends. I thought back to the other night at her house when I slept there. Despite the heavy flirting, we had fun. A lot of fun. I hadn’t laughed that hard in years with someone who wasn’t family.
“Come on,” I tugged a strand of her hair, playfully. “Let’s get this dinner on the table.”
We parted just as my family came clomping into the kitchen.
Dinner went pretty smoothly. Conversation between my family and Chloe was easy, and she made them laugh with her animated stories of her sorority sisters. As she spoke, her knee would occasionally bump mine. Sometimes on purpose when she was driving home a point. And other times because she was so vivacious that her movements couldn’t be contained to the confines of her personal space.
Not to mention, that girl could wolf down some food. It was impressive the way she went back for seconds, cleared her plate, then fell back in the chair, looking at me with those wide-set blue eyes of hers. “Please tell me there’s dessert.”
Mom smiled, standing up, and patted Chloe’s shoulder as she passed by. “Oh, honey. In this house? There’s always dessert.”
“Yeah,” Finn added. “And it’s usually whatever didn’t sell at Beefcakes that day.”
“Where you going, Mom?”
She waved Neil’s question away. “Just the restroom. I’ll be back in a minute.”
I stood up and headed toward the oven. “Normally, they’re right. Neil and I bring whatever day-olds are left at the bakery. But not tonight, folks. We sold out of everything.” I slipped the oven mitt on my hand and pointed at Neil. “Even the Pop-Tarts and cheesecake. So, tonight’s dessert is…” I bent to retrieve the hot cast iron skillet from the oven and placed it in the center of the table on a hot plate “Chocolate chip cookie ‘pizza’!”
“Holy shit,” Finn said.
“It’s a giant chocolate chip cookie, with melted chocolate and peanut butter drizzled on top. M&Ms. And, of course… we will add a scoop of ice cream and homemade whipped cream to every slice.”
“Oh my God,” Chloe whispered, pressing her palms to her stomach. “I think I just had a teeny-tiny orgasm.”
My laugh caught me by surprise. A sharp, loud barking sound that echoed in the kitchen as I cut a slice and handed it to her. “Well, if hearing about it causes an orgasm, prepare yourself. You’re about to become a squirter.”
Finn, Addy, and Chloe laughed, while Neil’s face twisted in disgust. “Oh my God, you guys. Get it out now before Mom comes back.”
I grabbed whipped cream and ice cream from the freezer and put them on the table as well.
Addy took a bite of her chocolate chip pie and shook her head. “So… you two are really just friends?” She said, pointing her fork between Chloe and me.
I nodded, smiling at Chloe. “We are.”
“Best friends,” she added, grinning.
“Best friends who talk about squirting?” Neil asked, his voice grim.
“Are there any other kind?” Chloe stood out of her seat and grabbed the whipped cream, splatting it onto Neil’s chocolate chip cookie. She wiggled her brows at him as she did it. “Remind you of anything?”
The entire table busted out laughing, Neil included. I had to admit, it was the first time I’d seen him laugh since breaking up with Elaina.
Mom came back into the room,
