been secretly talking to my editor?”
Brett grinned. “No, but you don’t need this deadline hanging over your head, and you’ll feel so much better for doing at least some of it today.”
“You’re right, I’m just procrastinating.”
Brett sat up properly and stretched his legs out in front of him. “I’ll make you a deal.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Let me hear it.”
“I’m going to head out, run a few errands and pick up some groceries. We can cook something nice for dinner, and you can forget all about your deadline, once you’ve worked for a few hours.”
“Promise me we can have chocolate for dessert, and you have yourself a deal.”
Brett held out his hand, smiling when her palm slipped into his. He was on dangerous territory, and he was starting to enjoy it.
CHAPTER SIX
I T HAD BEEN a long time since Brett had shopped for groceries and arrived home to cook dinner. He kicked the door shut with the heel of his boot and carried the bags through the house, before putting them on the ground and calling out to Jamie.
“I’m back,” he called, wandering down the hall toward her office.
“Oh, hey,” she said back.
He walked a couple of steps backward, looking into the bedroom he’d just passed. Jamie was tucking sheets into the bed, hair pulled up into a ponytail, wearing cutoff denim shorts and a tight tank top.
He could have done without seeing Jamie looking like that, making a bed that was presumably for him. Thank God it was down the hall from her room.
“I just wanted to let you know I was back.”
She smiled and threw the duvet on the bed, followed by a couple of pillows that had been sitting on the ground.
“You were secretly checking up on me, weren’t you?”
Her smile was infectious, no matter how much he wished he could distance himself from her. In the car, he’d reminded himself how he needed to behave, how he needed to think about her, but no amount of good intentions could help him when he was faced with Jamie in the flesh.
She didn’t seem to notice that he hadn’t replied and breezed past him, her shoulder skimming his bicep as she headed down the hall.
“Before you ask, I worked solidly almost the entire time you were gone, so I don’t have anything to feel guilty about.”
Brett froze before he could follow her, had only managed to turn before his feet refused to move. Because staring at him, eyes on his, was Sam. Sam’s smiling photo was hanging in the hall, straight outside the bedroom, and he hadn’t even noticed it when he’d walked past looking for Jamie. For Sam’s wife .
“Brett?”
He shook his head, mouthed sorry to his friend, the friend he was so close to betraying, and followed Jamie to the kitchen.
“Are you okay?”
Brett forced himself to snap out of whatever the hell it was he’d sunk into. She’d been Sam’s wife for years, he had known that this morning and he’d known it the night before, and yet he was the one who’d suggested he stay, who’d decided to go grocery shopping for dinner. It wasn’t Jamie’s fault that he was flipping out over something that was every bit his fault, so he needed to pull himself together.
“Sorry, yeah, I wasn’t sure what you’d like.”
“Mmmm, what are we making?”
He watched as she started to pull things out of the bags. “It’s the only thing I can make that doesn’t involve packets of sauce or frozen food.”
Brett never took his eyes off her as she laughed and pulled out a bag of tomatoes.
“Pasta?”
He nodded. “My mom was a great cook, and it’s the only thing I ever learned from her.”
Jamie’s face lost the rosy glow he’d been enjoying watching, her eyebrows dragging together as she frowned.
“You were only young when you lost your parents, weren’t you?”
Her voice was tender and it made him want to walk straight around the kitchen and hold her, to engulf her slender body in his arms and just feel what it was like to have her pressed to him. This woman
Brett grinned. “No, but you don’t need this deadline hanging over your head, and you’ll feel so much better for doing at least some of it today.”
“You’re right, I’m just procrastinating.”
Brett sat up properly and stretched his legs out in front of him. “I’ll make you a deal.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Let me hear it.”
“I’m going to head out, run a few errands and pick up some groceries. We can cook something nice for dinner, and you can forget all about your deadline, once you’ve worked for a few hours.”
“Promise me we can have chocolate for dessert, and you have yourself a deal.”
Brett held out his hand, smiling when her palm slipped into his. He was on dangerous territory, and he was starting to enjoy it.
CHAPTER SIX
I T HAD BEEN a long time since Brett had shopped for groceries and arrived home to cook dinner. He kicked the door shut with the heel of his boot and carried the bags through the house, before putting them on the ground and calling out to Jamie.
“I’m back,” he called, wandering down the hall toward her office.
“Oh, hey,” she said back.
He walked a couple of steps backward, looking into the bedroom he’d just passed. Jamie was tucking sheets into the bed, hair pulled up into a ponytail, wearing cutoff denim shorts and a tight tank top.
He could have done without seeing Jamie looking like that, making a bed that was presumably for him. Thank God it was down the hall from her room.
“I just wanted to let you know I was back.”
She smiled and threw the duvet on the bed, followed by a couple of pillows that had been sitting on the ground.
“You were secretly checking up on me, weren’t you?”
Her smile was infectious, no matter how much he wished he could distance himself from her. In the car, he’d reminded himself how he needed to behave, how he needed to think about her, but no amount of good intentions could help him when he was faced with Jamie in the flesh.
She didn’t seem to notice that he hadn’t replied and breezed past him, her shoulder skimming his bicep as she headed down the hall.
“Before you ask, I worked solidly almost the entire time you were gone, so I don’t have anything to feel guilty about.”
Brett froze before he could follow her, had only managed to turn before his feet refused to move. Because staring at him, eyes on his, was Sam. Sam’s smiling photo was hanging in the hall, straight outside the bedroom, and he hadn’t even noticed it when he’d walked past looking for Jamie. For Sam’s wife .
“Brett?”
He shook his head, mouthed sorry to his friend, the friend he was so close to betraying, and followed Jamie to the kitchen.
“Are you okay?”
Brett forced himself to snap out of whatever the hell it was he’d sunk into. She’d been Sam’s wife for years, he had known that this morning and he’d known it the night before, and yet he was the one who’d suggested he stay, who’d decided to go grocery shopping for dinner. It wasn’t Jamie’s fault that he was flipping out over something that was every bit his fault, so he needed to pull himself together.
“Sorry, yeah, I wasn’t sure what you’d like.”
“Mmmm, what are we making?”
He watched as she started to pull things out of the bags. “It’s the only thing I can make that doesn’t involve packets of sauce or frozen food.”
Brett never took his eyes off her as she laughed and pulled out a bag of tomatoes.
“Pasta?”
He nodded. “My mom was a great cook, and it’s the only thing I ever learned from her.”
Jamie’s face lost the rosy glow he’d been enjoying watching, her eyebrows dragging together as she frowned.
“You were only young when you lost your parents, weren’t you?”
Her voice was tender and it made him want to walk straight around the kitchen and hold her, to engulf her slender body in his arms and just feel what it was like to have her pressed to him. This woman
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