Seth knew he was falling hard and fast, and he was pretty sure Chris felt the same way, although they hadn’t broached the subject of feelings since their first date. But Seth was enjoying the dance and was in no hurry to rush their romance.
While they spent most nights making out like teenagers, they were taking the physical part slowly. As much fun as they had on their first date, they both had said they didn’t want what they had to become just physical. They’d both sowed their wild oats in the past and, at least for Seth, wanted to build something that could last, and not rely just on physical attraction. Although, there was no denying there was an intense attraction. Seth got hard just hearing Chris speak. Hell, there’d been times whenChris looked at him that he felt he could spontaneously orgasm right where he stood. It was difficult tonot go further when they were together, but it was an unspoken promise between them—they would wait until it was right before they went farther.
Not that any of that stopped Seth from jerking off every night imagining being with Chris. Okay…and every morning.
When he wasn’t with Chris, he was thinking about him, but also working on how to advertise the new cooking lessons coming up, as well as designing a brochure to pass out to customers, detailing the program.
He had also come up with an idea to help Karlee purchase the quality equipment she wanted and asked to meet with her this afternoon. He wasn’t sure how she would take it since she’d been a little up and down lately, making her unpredictable. So when his shift was over, he found her sitting in the storage room, staring at a new skillet.
“Are you okay?” he asked gently.
“How could I be? Look at this!”
He tried to see what she was referencing, but couldn’t figure it out. “Look at what? Is there a defect?”
“Yes! Look,” she nearly shrieked as she thrust the pan at him.
He turned over the stainless steel skillet in his hands. He still didn’t see anything wrong. “I’m sorry, Karlee, you’re going to have to show me.”
She stood and pointed. “Look how shiny that is! You can see yourself in it. Who the hell wants to see themselves while they cook?”
Hormones, he reminded himself. Ah, yes. Hormones. He placed the skilled on the shelf and took her hands in his. “I’ll take care of it.”
Karlee seemed satisfied and sat down. “So, what’s going on? Oh! Oh!” Her eyes grew wide and she pressed her hand to her slightly rounded belly. “He’s kicking!”
“Now? Here?”
Karlee rolled her eyes at Seth and grabbed his hand, flattening it on her belly. “Feel that?”
Nope. Nothing. “Um, I’m not sure.”
“There it was again! Did you feel that?”
“Maybe?” he offered.
Karlee scoffed. “Men. He’s been kicking harder the last few days. I read that you can feel a baby kick around five or six months and I’m over six months along now, so he’s right on time,” she declared proudly. “I’ve been feeling this fluttering sensation for a while, but now there’s no doubt about it. He’s kicking.”
“He? I didn’t think you wanted to know the sex yet. When did you find out?”
She shrugged. “I didn’t. I just have this gut feeling it’s a boy.”
Okay. Women’s intuition. Not something to be messed with.
“What did you want to talk about?” she asked, her eyes on Seth.
He sat in the chair next to her. “I’ve been thinking about the cooking stations and the various equipment you’re going to need to purchase.”
Her face fell and she looked away. “Yeah, it’s a lot more expensive than I realized. Sometimes I thinkI rushed into this, Seth.”
If his best friend wasn’t pregnant, he’d have wholeheartedly agreed, but given that she was and her mood was somewhere between giddy and teary most of the time lately, he held his tongue. “It’s okay, Karlee. I think I have an idea.”
“Yeah?” She looked at him, hope in her eyes.
He nodded. “I have a pretty solid savings account and I’d like to purchase the equipment for you.” Heheld up his hand to stop her protest. “Let me finish. I want to do this. You’ve always been there for me. Let me be here for you. I love you. And I love working here.”
Tears welled up in her eyes and she brushed at them with the heel of her palm. “I can’t believe you want to do this.”
Seth grinned. “Of course, I do!”
She smiled back. “I’ll let you do this on one condition.”
“Karlee—”
“I listened to you. Now you need to listen to my conditions.”
“Yes, ma’am,” he said with a mock salute.