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I tap my nose. “A surprise.”
His eyes light up again, his grin so beautifully genuine.
“You’re going to cook for us?”
He sounds surprised, and I don’t blame him. I’m hardly chef material, and he’s done all the cooking so far. I’ve only chopped a bit of garlic.
“Yeah, I’m going to cook for us. I want you well nourished for your proposal later.”
He looks like he’s shocked, and I get it. My chicken casserole might be shit, but I can practice. Mum’s a great cook, so maybe I’ve inherited some of that talent as well as my looks.
“Amy never cooked,” Josh says. “I always made the meals, and first of all she was grateful, giving me all the yum, you’re the best ever while she munched away, but after a while it got standard. She’d scroll through her phone while I was cooking, and scroll through her phone while she was eating, too.” He pauses. “It’d be lovely to have a meal made for me, thank you.”
I want to hug him so fucking bad, selfish cow.
It only spurs me on. I take a quick shower and throw on a t-shirt and leggings, then I’m off to the local store. At least I know how to navigate one. Chicken, carrots, celery, parsley, mushrooms, butter, cream… all in my basket. Lemon. Thyme. Garlic. Flour. I check the recipe to make sure I’ve got everything. Yep, got it.
I’m going to make the best meal for him I possibly can.
“Don’t watch me,” I say when I start preparing the meal. “I want to make it a surprise.”
“I can help,” he says, but I shake my head.
“No, chill out. Enjoy yourself. Watch Rocky and put your feet up. Get your butt on the sofa and relax.”
“Talking of sofas,” he says, and props himself on an elbow at the breakfast bar. “I was thinking. Rather than letting that piece of shit Richard wreck your dreams, why don’t you keep the items you ordered to furnish your new apartment? We can shift things around in here to accommodate them.”
“I’ve cancelled a load of them,” I say. “Don’t worry, I’ll wait until I get a place again. I’ll have my flash brocade sofa one day. I’ve been browsing apartments online. There are plenty that won’t involve Richard wanker Jacobs.”
He takes my hand and runs his thumb across my knuckles, and his green eyes dig into mine.
“You’re more than welcome to stay here. I’ve worked out where we can have your sofa. We can side angle mine and have yours right there.” He gestures to the spot.
A warm glow flows through me at his words, at what he might be inferring…
I shake my head. “That’s lovely, Josh, but you don’t have to invite me in long term, and you definitely don’t have to accommodate my sofa.”
Shit. I so want to wrap my arms around his neck and say thanks.
“I don’t have to, Ells. I want to. There’s a very big difference. The question is, do you want to stay?”
Oh fuck, his eyes. They bore into my very soul. Even if I try to play it down, he’d see right through me, so I take a breath, and squeeze his hand.
“I’d love to stay, thank you.”
His grin lights up my whole world.
“Phew, thank fuck for that. I’d be devastated to have you so much as a single tube stop away.”
“Yeah, well, same goes. Tit for tat.” I look at him in wonder. “Thank you. Really. Thanks”
“No, thank you. I didn’t realise how lonely I’d become until you came along. You’re like the piece of a jigsaw I’ve been missing, only I didn’t even know I’d been missing one. It isn’t about Amy, either. It’s about you. About us. It feels like a whole different jigsaw entirely.”
My stomach flutters, because I feel the same. Being here feels like home already. I even know where to put the parsley and thyme in his kitchen.
“You don’t have to house the sofa, though.” I grin at him. “I’ve already cancelled it.”
He shows me the screen on his phone. “Yeah, I know, but I found it. It’s pretty distinctive in black and gold.”
