Callie covers the sauce and turns back to me. "You're eating another one? Now you're not going to be hungry for dinner."
"Trust me. I could eat that whole tray and still be hungry for dinner." I pop the rest of the cookie in my mouth, then open the drawer and get the corkscrew and open the bottle of wine.
Callie leans against the counter, watching me. "I find it odd how you just make yourself comfortable in someone else's house. Are you like that with everyone?"
"Pretty much. Why? Does it bother you?"
"I'm just saying that you really should ask before going through people's stuff."
"I wasn't going through your stuff. I was just getting a corkscrew." I go around her to get the wine glasses. "And if you're referring to me going through your bathroom when we first met, that was an emergency. I didn't have a choice in the matter."
The timer on the stove beeps and she goes over and turns it off. "Chicken's done. Time to eat."
I look over and see the table set with placemats and silverware and the flowers I brought her the other night. As I set our wine glasses down, I can't help but feel like this is a date. Is that what Callie was thinking when she did all this? Or is this just two neighbors having dinner?
Chapter Thirteen
Callie
After dinner, Nash and I lingered at the table for two hours, drinking wine and talking. We avoided any heavy topics and stuck to talking about movies and TV shows and current events.
Now we're in the kitchen and Nash is scrubbing pans, like he promised he'd do. It's great not to have to clean up. That's always the worst part of cooking so I'm happy to let him do it, but I feel weird just standing around so I grab a dish towel and dry one of the bowls he just cleaned.
"Hey." He motions to my dish towel. "I said I'd do it. Go sit down and relax."
"You'll be here all night if I don't help."
He chuckles. "You in a hurry to get rid of me?"
"No." I shake my head. "Never mind. Just keep scrubbing."
"Between this and the other work I did today, I'm wearing out my hands. Would you take a raincheck on the foot massage?"
"I was kidding. You don't have to give me one."
"I want to, but my hands need to be in good shape to do it and right now they're worn out from ripping out the floor."
"Then yeah, I'll take a raincheck." I couldn't handle a foot massage now anyway. I'm already aroused enough from just being around him all night. The massage would be too much.
Nash showed up tonight wearing dark jeans and a white button-up shirt. That doesn't sound like anything special, but on him? Very sexy. The shirt is bright white against his dark tan and he rolled the sleeves up a little, giving it a more casual look, but still dressy for him. I've only seen him in t-shirts. And he put on cologne; a light clean scent that I noticed as soon as I opened the door. It made me think this was a date, even though I know it's not.
"Do you miss Chicago?" I ask as I dry the pan I used to sauté the mushrooms.
"Not really. I needed a break from there."
"Any reason why?" I shouldn't ask. If I'm not willing to tell him about me, I shouldn't ask him personal questions like that.
"My ex lives in my building. On the same floor, just a few apartments down." He hands me the skillet he just washed. "I got tired of watching her with her new boyfriend."
"This is the girl you dated for two years?"
"Yeah. We were supposed to get married."
"You were engaged?" I ask, sounding shocked.
He smiles. "Why are you so surprised? You think I'm not the marrying type?"
"No, that's not what I meant." Or maybe I did. Nash could get any girl he wants, so why would he want to settle down at the age of 25?
"I'm a relationship guy," he says, placing a wine glass in the drying rack. "I don't do the one-night stand thing. I'd rather have a girlfriend."
"So what happened?"
"With Marissa? My ex?"
"Yeah. Or do you not want to talk about it?"
He shakes the water off the other wine glass and adds it to the drying rack. "It's not my favorite topic, but long story short, she cheated on me. I found her in bed with another guy. A guy she works with at the law firm. The boss' son."
"Really?" I cringe. "That's bad."
"Yeah. Exactly. So you can see why I got sick of seeing her with him."
"Are they still together?"
He shrugs. "Who knows? She called me last night to tell me she was breaking up with him but she was drunk so I don't believe her."
"She called you? So you guys still talk?"
"We did when we lived in the same building, but it was just a quick hello, how's-it-going type of thing. Not an actual conversation. And she always initiated it, not me. I have no desire to talk to her again."
For a minute there, I thought he was going to say they were getting back together, and just the thought of that caused a pinch of jealousy to rise up in me. Why would I be jealous? He's my neighbor. And my boss. That's it.