Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 33216 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 166(@200wpm)___ 133(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33216 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 166(@200wpm)___ 133(@250wpm)___ 111(@300wpm)
“I guess I’ve been told wrong, the way to a woman’s heart.”
“I told you, Dylan, I’m not like other women, and knowing you have a spice collection and whole lot of beans, I can make dinner.”
She rummaged in his cupboards and found the only saucepan.
“One saucepan?” she asked.
“I’m a one pan kind of guy. I told you, when I came here, I swore off women. There was no reason to buy more than one of anything.”
She frowned. “You have two mugs.”
“Okay, so they came as a package deal. Anything I could buy one of, I did, when it came to multiple, I had to buy the package.” He shrugged.
“I don’t know why I find that adorable, I just do.” She laughed. “Are you ready for some kind of mad concoction?”
“It depends, are you going to tease my taste buds even more than you have already?” he asked.
“Oh, yes, Dylan, prepare to be teased.”
Chapter Four
“I’m so sorry,” Robin said.
It had been a week since the kitchen fitters had started on the house. In removing some of the cupboards, the unthinkable had happened, and there had been some damage to the wall, which now meant a builder had to come in to inspect.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“I do worry. This was meant to be a simple kitchen remodel. Not to cause potential structural damage to the property. I will pay for all the costs, I promise.”
Dylan laughed. “It’s fine. Honestly. I’m going to book into a hotel—”
“A hotel? Is it that bad?” Robin asked.
It had been an amazing week. She spent a lot of time with Dylan, learning what foods he loved, and they had discovered he didn’t like parsley. Strange, but not the end of the world. She loved to cook for him, and he was such a refreshing person to be around. Everything had been going fine. Yes, the kitchen fitters rebooked twice, and then when they finally arrived, the unthinkable happened.
Nothing about the job had been smooth. Her life around everything else with Dylan had been. It didn’t make any sense to her.
“Until they come out and assess the damage, I don’t want to live there,” Dylan said.
“I don’t like that.” She glanced around her home and then thought of Buttercup. Most hotels were not animal friendly. “Why don’t you stay here?” she asked.
“Stay here?”
“Yes, at my place. You don’t have to be too far away. You’re only next door, and seeing as this is all my fault…”
“Robin, stop blaming yourself. It’s not your fault.”
“But it is.”
“I was the one that asked you to redo my kitchen. None of this is your fault. Stop blaming yourself and allow me to accept the blame. It’s my fault. I wanted you to work on my kitchen, and you have.” He shrugged. “Shit happens.”
“Yeah, but not like this. This is like real bad shit. Like insane bad shit.” She pressed her lips together. “I can’t believe any of this happened. It’s insane.”
“It’s fine.”
He could keep saying it was fine but she knew differently. Nothing about this was fine. It was all fucked up.
She closed her eyes and then opened them after counting to ten. “I’m still offering. You’re going to struggle to find a hotel that will allow you to have Buttercup with you. I can have her here with me, and seeing as I have the spare room, you could just stick around.”
Dylan looked down at Buttercup. “I didn’t think about my dog.”
“Hotels have a lot of rules. Strict rules.”
He nodded. “And you don’t mind?”
“Of course not. I wouldn’t have offered if I did mind. I would love to have you, and trust me, we can both be here when everything is happening, and just get it right.” She didn’t like that it had gone wrong.
“As long as you don’t mind,” he said, repeating himself.
“I told you I don’t mind. Honestly, I’d love to have you and Buttercup.”
“That is a lie, we both know you’d just love Buttercup.”
She burst out laughing. “Yes, I’d love her, always.” She reached out and took Buttercup. “And even though I know I can get her to love me, it wouldn’t be the same without you.”
He did a fake gasp. “I now know what you’re trying to do. You’re trying to steal my dog.”
“Absolutely.” She winked at him. Tucking her hair behind her ear, she nibbled her lip. “In all honesty, I would love to have you stay here, because I do feel bad about what happened. I didn’t mean for there to potentially be structural damage, and besides, we get along quite well. You’re not an axe murderer.”
“True.”
“And we’ve both sworn off men and women. We’re friends, right? Neighborly friends.” She didn’t know who she was trying to convince more—herself or him.
“If you’re good with it. I’ll go and collect a few things.”
“Don’t forget to get Buttercup’s things.” Speaking of Buttercup, the moment she went down, she ran into the living room and Robin could see her curled up on the sofa. “Do you want me to come and help?”