But what if Harriet didn’t?
What if she thought he was just the person she’d been looking for?
She lowered the heat under the pan and turned and smiled at him. “How was your day?”
How was your day, dear?
He and Alison had never talked about their days. Partly because they’d rarely occupied the same space for long enough to indulge in any kind of conversation, and partly because in the short time they weren’t working neither of them had wanted to talk about it.
He wished he’d thought this through more carefully before asking Harriet to move in.
“My day was busy.” He threw his coat over the back of the nearest chair, trying to work out the best way to handle this. “I see you’re all settled in.”
Madi uncurled herself and trotted across to greet him, tail wagging.
He’d returned home to a woman cooking in his kitchen, and a dog.
He hadn’t seen so much domesticity in one place since the last time he’d been home to visit his parents. And that had been a while.
“She’s been good today, but she’s been glued to my side for most of it.” Harriet lifted the lid off the blue pot and stirred.
Ethan lost his train of thought. Whatever she was stirring smelled fantastic.
His mouth watered and his stomach reminded him he hadn’t eaten since lunchtime.
“I wasn’t expecting you to cook. You didn’t have to do that.”
She glanced at him, puzzled. “Excuse me?”
He decided to be honest. “Look, I appreciate the whole ‘homemaking’ thing, but that wasn’t part of the agreement we had. Your job is to look after the dog, that’s all. Not me. I’m not part of the deal here.”
“The deal?”
“You only need to feed the dog. I could have been late and then the wonderful meal you’ve spent hours creating would have been ruined.”
Comprehension dawned. Understanding was swiftly followed by annoyance.
There was a little flare of a
nger in her eyes. The same anger he’d seen the day he’d shouted at Madi. “You think I did this for you?”
“Didn’t you?”
There was a pause, and he had the feeling she was choosing her words carefully.
“I’m cooking because, believe it or not, I have to eat. I have a physical job and I work long hours, often outdoors in the cold. I need fuel. And I mean real fuel, not the nutrition-free takeout food you live on that is loaded with salt, sugar and not much else.” She turned away and put the spoon down on the saucer, slowly and carefully, as if she was having to fight hard not to throw it at him. “And when we made our ‘agreement,’ it didn’t occur to me that I wouldn’t be allowed to use your kitchen. I’m new to the rules of dog sitting, but I was assuming I could treat your home as my own for the duration of the job.”
Realizing he’d made a huge mistake Ethan made what was intended to be a placatory gesture, but she wasn’t looking. “Of course you’re allowed to use my kitchen. That’s not—”
“That’s not, what?” She turned swiftly. “That’s not what you meant? Then what did you mean? What’s the problem?”
The problem was that he should have kept his big mouth shut. Again. “I may have misread the situation.”
“May have? Just to clarify, you thought I was turning this into some sort of romantic evening with you in the starring role, is that right?”
Definitely should have kept his mouth shut. “You mentioned that you were doing online dating, that’s all, and I thought—” Aware that he was making it worse, he stopped talking and she lifted an eyebrow.
“You thought? You thought I was desperate, is that right? You think you tick all the boxes if a woman is looking for a guy.”