Linny: 8 and bring a bottle of Rizon vanilla.
Jeremy: You’re a woman after my own heart.
He’s right. I am. I’m after his heart. I’m falling hard and fast for him. I hope with everything I am that he’s falling just as hard for me.
Chapter 43
Jeremy
“You cooked this, Linny?” I wave a hand in the air over my empty plate. “You created this incredible dinner in that tiny kitchen of yours?”
Smiling, she points at her kitchen and the pile of dirty dishes littering the counter. “Do you think I ordered take-out and dumped the food in my pots before you got here?”
Yes? No? How the fuck do I know?
I’ve lived in New York City my entire life. A great kitchen isn’t on the top ten list of must-haves on everyone’s list when they’re looking for an apartment.
Many New Yorkers never cook at home.
I count myself in that group, although the last few years I have eaten more dinners at my dining room table than in a restaurant.
I’ve never been the one behind the stove though.
“How did you learn how to cook like this?” I take a sip of water.
She eyes me carefully. “On the internet.”
&nb
sp; I furrow my brow. “You’re serious?”
Her head shakes slightly. “I’m joking. I took a cooking class with my friend, Harmony, a few years ago. She wanted to cook gourmet dinners for her fiancé and she didn’t want to go to the class alone, so I signed up too and surprised her during the first class.”
“You’re good friends with her, aren’t you?”
She looks down at the faded, torn jeans and short sleeve white sweater she’s wearing.
I lost my breath when she opened her apartment door and I caught sight of her. She’s barefoot and wearing minimal makeup. Her hair is a mess of curls that are tumbling around her shoulders.
She looks relaxed and content.
I didn’t bother changing after work so as soon as I got here, I shrugged out of my suit jacket, lost my tie, shoes and socks. I may not look as casual as she does, but I feel comfortable. I feel at home sitting across from her at her small dining room table.
“We’ve been friends since we were kids.” She sighs. “In high school it was Harmony, Priscilla, Kendra and I. We were inseparable.”
“And now?” I ask. “Are you still in touch with the other two? Priscilla and Kendra?”
She forks the last bite of pasta on her plate. “They were with me in Las Vegas. We were there for Kendra’s bachelorette party.”
“I should send Kendra’s fiancé a case of Rizon vodka.”
She slides the pasta into her mouth and chews. I watch intently as she swallows slowly. “He’s her husband now and why would you send him a case of vodka?”
I lean closer to her. “To thank him for asking Kendra to marry him. If that hadn’t happened, you would never have been on the flight that morning headed to Sin City.”
Her tongue slicks her bottom lip. “Who should I thank for you being on that flight?”
I smooth the pad of my thumb over the path her tongue just took. “You can thank me, angel. I had a later flight booked, but decided to get an early start so the night before we met, I called the airline and changed my flight.”