Ebba shakes her head and drops her gaze. Taking a step back, she closes the door and the lock clicks in place, breaking the spell she has me under.
“You’re so fucking pathetic,” I mutter to myself.
CHAPTER 5
EBBA
“I can’t bethis inept, can I?” I mutter aloud to the silent and empty kitchen. The contraption Noah has for coffee is far out of my element. The fancy device looks like it belongs in a coffee shop, not in someone’s home.
“Oh, that thing?” I stiffen at Fisher’s voice. I hadn’t realized anyone else was around. “It’s not as hard as it looks. What do you want?”
“I don’t know.” My shoulders deflate. “What can it do?”
“You like iced espressos, right?” He pushes his glasses up his nose and I nearly groan. I never thought glasses were attractive until I met Fisher. He doesn’t wear them often, preferring his contacts, but I love them on him.
Loved, I remind myself.
“Yeah.”
“I’ve got you,” he says and my breath catches when he invades my space. He’s so close and he smells familiar like a favorite sweater you return to time and time again even when it’s falling apart just because it’s perfectly worn in.
I step away from the corner I’ve been pinned in and move toward the sink. I can breathe easier when Fisher Grant isn’t invading my space.
He grinds beans and then tamps them down, working quickly and efficiently like my own personal barista. While the espresso is brewing, he grabs a cup and fills it with ice and grabs oat milk and some sort of creamer from the refrigerator.
When the espresso is ready, he pulls out some round looking contraption from the freezer. At my inquisitive look, he says, “It helps to rapidly cool the espresso and keep the ice from melting as much.”
“Interesting,” I muse.
He sticks a glass straw in the cup and hands it to me. “Let me know what you think.”
I take a sip and can’t hold back my tiny hum of appreciation. “This is delicious.”
“Thanks.” He crosses his arms over his chest. He’s dressed comfortably in a pair of shorts and a hoodie. “Where are the girls?”
I shrug. “Sleeping in, I guess.”
He leans back, bracing his hands on the counter. Even through his hoodie I easily see the contours of his biceps. I quickly drop my gaze.
We haven’t been alone like this in ages. His presence shouldn’t affect me as potently as it does, but he’s all-consuming.
“Thanks for this.” I raise the cup slightly in the air.
He gives me a soft, nearly shy smile before he drops his gaze. “You’re welcome.”
I wasn’t planning to leave the kitchen, but I need to get away from him, so I head outside to the pool area and settle on one of the chaise lounges.
That’s where Sabrina and Whimsy find me, reading a book on my phone, an hour later.
“I wondered where you were hiding,” Sabrina teases. “I should’ve known you’d be avoiding Fisher.”
“I’m not hiding.” I roll my eyes and swing my legs over the side of the chaise. Picking up my glass now filled only with melted ice, I say, “I’ll have you know, he made my coffee this morning because I couldn’t figure out Noah’s fancy ass coffee maker.”
Sabrina laughs. “He’s so over the top with it, I know. He says he got it for me, but I’m not doing all that, so he ends up making it for me.”
I follow the girls back into the house and drop my glass off in the sink with a quick rinse.
“The dress shop is about thirty minutes way,” Sabrina says as we pile into her car.