Coming Apart at the Seams Read Online Free PDF Page B

And chocolate mint bars and peanut butter pie for dessert.”
    Nick knew he probably resembled a cartoon character with his eyes bugged out of his head and his tongue rolled out of his mouth. He licked his lips, unsure where to start.
    Letty chuckled. “Allergies?”
    He shook his head.
    â€œAnything here you don’t want?”
    He shook his head again, and she dished up spoonfuls from every container, filling his plate to the brim. She unwrapped his silverware before handing him the fork and placing the napkin in his lap.
    â€œEat,” she ordered as she sat down.
    Spearing a shrimp on the tines of his fork, he brought it to his mouth. A world of flavors and textures hit his tongue: the slightsweetness of shrimp, the hot bite of wasabi, and the smooth silk of cream.
    â€œUmm,” he moaned. “Good.”
    She frowned. “Don’t talk with your mouth full.” She made a
tsk
ing noise. “It’s rude.”
    Nick narrowed his eyes at her bossiness. They’d known each other for less than ten minutes, and she thought she could tell him what to do? He swallowed and wiped his mouth with his napkin.
    â€œYou’re hired.”

Chapter 4
    The oven timer sounded at the same time Teagan’s phone rang, and she sprinted across the room to grab the phone.
    â€œHello,” she said as she rushed back to the oven. She didn’t want her double-fudge brownies to burn.
    â€œHey there, baby girl.”
    Her father’s strong baritone rumbled across the line, and her heart expanded. She was a daddy’s girl through and through, and she loved it when he called her out of the blue.
    â€œHi, Daddy,” she replied, holding the phone against her shoulder so she could don an oven mitt. “What’s up?”
    â€œOh, I’m just driving home from work, and I thought I’d call my favorite daughter.”
    She laughed. “Funny. As far as I know, I’m your only daughter,” she said as she pulled the brownies out of the oven.
    He chuckled. “As far as I know, too. How was your day?”
    â€œPretty good.”
    She was lying, just a little bit. Despite her efforts to keep her head down and wear ugly clothes over the past several days, JD continued to pursue her. She’d had the misfortune to be alone with him in the elevator today, and he’d backed her against the wall and tried to kiss her. She was going to have to be very careful not to be alone with him.
    Grabbing a knife, she stuck it in the brownies to see if they were done. It came out clean, so she turned off the oven and put the brownies on the stove to cool.
    â€œLearn anything new?” her father asked. “Do anything fun?”
    They were the same questions her dad had asked her every single day of her life since she was a little girl. When she’d been a teenager and sullenly answered
no
to his queries, he had speared her with his blue-gray gaze.
    â€œThat’s your fault, baby girl,” he’d said.
    Not a day went by that she didn’t think about his response. It was a reminder that she was responsible for her own happiness.
    â€œI did learn something new, and I’m about to do something fun.”
    â€œOh, yeah? What do you have planned? A boy?”
    She laughed. “Daddy, I’m twenty-six years old. I don’t date boys anymore. I date men.”
    And then she laughed when she realized that she didn’t sound very mature, since she still called her father “Daddy.” But if all daughters had fathers as fabulous as hers, they’d call them “Daddy,” too, no matter how old they were.
    â€œWell, now, that’s good to know. But you still haven’t told me about your daily dose of fun.”
    â€œBrownies. Fresh out of the oven.”
    He laughed. “Teagan, honey, if you think brownies are fun, maybe you need to go out with a boy. A bad boy.”
    A hard knock on her door distracted her. She frowned. It was