Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 77842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 389(@200wpm)___ 311(@250wpm)___ 259(@300wpm)
“Oh my God, you did it!” Paige squeals, her arms in the air like he just made a goal.
“I was nervous it was going to hit the ceiling for a second.” Wrinkles form across his forehead. Using my favorite red spatula, he slides the pancake from the pan and places it on a plate. I enter the room. “Wow, first try and no casualties.” My crack at being funny has them both turning my way. “First time I did it, the thing landed in a potted plant,” I say.
“Hey, you!” He lights up and sets the spatula down to walk over, wrapping his arms around me. “Hungry?”
“Starving, actually,” I reply around a smile. One I can’t seem to stop. Who can blame me? Paige hasn’t acted this happy in a long time either.
“I’ve got you.” He winks and walks back to the stove. I grab a cup of coffee and sit at the table across from Paige. She stares at her phone, blindly stuffing her mouth with her breakfast.
“So, who said pancakes taste better flipped in the air? Was it you?” Heston asks me, pouring batter into the pan.
“My mom.” I let out a small laugh. “She said it as far back as I can remember.” Memories of standing on a chair next to my mom in a kitchen over an old green stove warm my chest. God, I miss her.
“Hmm.” He focuses on the pan, as if lost in thought, and I immediately feel bad for bringing her up. The way he acts when I talk about my family…the tension, looking away, not saying much, makes me think he doesn’t get along with his folks.
“What about your parents? How were they?” I ask, probing.
“Um…when I was younger, my parents were close. As I got older, my dad became more absent.”
“Oh,” I mutter. “My father was out of the picture before I was two,” I tell him.
He glances at me with an unreadable expression then focuses back on the pancake.
“I’d love to meet your parents sometime. See the people responsible for the pancake-flipping expert. Maybe they can teach me,” I tease, then take a sip of hot coffee.
His shoulders tense. A tic in his jaw destroys his beautiful mood. And I suddenly feel like an idiot for the joke.
“That’s going to be kinda hard when I don’t even see them.” His tone is grim, darkening the kitchen. I set my cup down and press my fingers against my temples. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean… I mean…I was—”
“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.” He shakes the pan, silence spreading between us. This is why I’ve stayed single. I’m just as terrible at dating as I thought I would be.
“Don’t forget to flip!” Paige reminds him, still staring at her phone, oblivious to what just went down. Heston shakes his head, as if wiping away a bad memory, and his lips lift into a smirk. He widens his stance, shakes his hips, and flips it into the air. The pancake goes rogue, and Paige laughs, covering her head with both hands. My eyes on my breakfast, I watch it flop onto the kitchen island behind him.
He glances at me, his eyes wide, and I nearly spit coffee laughing.
Holding his finger up, he says, “Let me try that again.”
“Bet he misses again?” I whisper across the table to Paige. She peeks over at him then back to me.
“Bet.”
Five minutes later, he made it in the pan.
“I gotta get to work.”
“Will you be over tonight?” Paige asks. Their time together this morning must have paid off.
Heston looks to me for an answer. “I mean, if he wants to, sure.” I shrug, like it’s no big deal, but deep down, I want to yell, “Stay!”
“Sleepover?” Heston asks, his eyes barely masking the heat between us. Paige stands up, her chair scraping across the floor.
“Eww, I’m out,” she mutters, stomping up the stairs to escape to her teenage paradise of a room. The moment she’s out of view, Heston reaches for me. Grabbing the sash of my robe, he pulls me to him.
“Do you want me to come back over?” His voice is low and throaty as he unties the knot of my robe. My breath quickens, and my nipples perk at the sudden intrusion.
“Yeah, I do,” I whisper with a heavy breath.
“Then I’ll come over.” Letting go of the robe, he kisses me on the mouth, rubbing his thumb over my cheek.
God, this is too perfect. Where did this man come from? He pulls away, stepping back, his eyes brighter than ever.
“This morning has been the best. Feels like a real home with family in it.”
A chill runs down my arms, and I can’t help but feel like I need to shield myself from the uncomfortable feeling enveloping me. Crossing my arms over my body, I