from my hand and spinning me. Before I can protest any more, he gently sweeps my hair to the side and lifts the necklace over my head. His fingers brush over the skin at my neck, making me tremble.
“There,” he says, his hands squeezing my shoulders firmly, almost possessively. “I told you. Just right.”
I’m about to turn back around when I feel Gavin’s lips ghost over my shoulder. My breath catches in my chest. His almost kiss becomes a definite kiss, then a series of kisses, I have to wonder if it’s possible to die from holding your breath. Because there is no way I’m going to be able to get oxygen in my lungs while he’s doing that. My eyelids flutter closed.
If this is how I die, I wouldn’t change a thing. RIP, indeed.
Until his mother shouts up the stairs. “Gav! You know our rule about having girls in your bedroom!”
Her laughter knocks the breath out of me in a gasp. Gavin’s hands tighten on my shoulders, and for a brief moment, he drops his forehead to rest there. My face flames and I cover my eyes with my hands.
Forget death by being kissed. I’m going to die of embarrassment, right here, right now.
“I’m so sorry,” Gavin mutters. “There’s not actually a rule. I mean, not since I was in high school. My mother is just … how she is.”
“It’s fine. And she’s right. We should probably get downstairs,” I say.
Gavin smooths my hair back in place over my shoulders, covering the places where he kissed. Hopefully, I don’t have any marks. Because that’s the only thing that would be more embarrassing.
“Take a moment to settle in if you’d like,” Gavin says, and then he’s gone before I can even thank him for my gifts.
“So, Zoey, tell me about yourself,” Mrs. Brownell says with a smile. I’m thankful that I have potatoes to peel in front of me so I can focus on something while answering what feels like a very girlfriend-like question. “And please, call me Norah.”
Though after what happened upstairs, I’m feeling a lot more like a girlfriend.
The pan sizzles as she browns a roast in a cast iron skillet. The delicious scent of butter, garlic, and cooking beef fills the air. My stomach rumbles and I realize the last time I ate was this morning with Delilah. That seems like a lifetime ago.
“I’m not all that interesting,” I say, realizing even as I say it that it’s true. “I graduated from UT. I live with my four best friends in a house in South Austin, and for the past two years I worked—I work—as Gavin’s executive assistant.” I clear my throat, hoping she doesn’t catch the slip-up. I definitely don’t want to talk about quitting. “And now, I’m helping him as his temporary nanny.”
“So, you just work for him?” She raises one white eyebrow at me, a smile tugging at her lips.
“Officially? Yes.”
“Unofficially?” she presses.
The woman is relentless, but I kind of love it. I shrug. “I guess we’ll see.”
She hums, and for a moment, we work in a comfortable silence. I used to help Mom like this in the kitchen, typically grumbling about it the whole time. I’d give anything to be able to cook alongside her now.
As if somehow following the path my thoughts took, Gavin’s mom asks, “Is your family from Austin?”
“I grew up there,” I say, hedging around the details. Gavin doesn’t even know I lost my mom, and I certainly don’t want to start in on that whole conversation now. Not in the midst of this already emotionally charged situation.
Let’s stick to the shallow water in the pool, please. No adult swim.
“And when exactly did you fall in love with Gavin?”
Her voice is so even, like she’s asking what my major was. It takes me a moment to really hear her question. I drop the potato in my hands, and it rolls to the edge of the counter and off, finally coming to rest against her bare foot.
My eyes meet hers with complete shock. Hers are glowing with amusement.
“What—I—how did you … No. I mean, I don’t—ugh.” I put my face in my hands, smelling the starchy, earthy smell of potato on my skin.
Her laugh shouldn’t soothe me, but it does. It’s warm and kind and overrun with joy. “I’m sorry,” she says. “I shouldn’t have said anything. Gavin will send me out back with the cattle if he knows. And don’t worry; I won’t tell him.”