“Mom!” Jenna looked like she wanted to hide. No, she looked like she wanted to die.

Mr. Mefferd coughed. “The shrimp tastes delicious,” he said, purposely changing the subject, while nudging his wife.

“Yes, it does, dear,” Mrs. Mefferd agreed, snickering lightly. “Thank you again for dinner, Max.”

“It’s my pleasure,” Max replied with a warm smile.

“You’ll have to let us take you out on our last night. We insist,” Mr. Mefferd said.

Max didn’t say a word; instead, he beamed a smile toward Jenna. Looking at the two of them, I could see how much love they had for each other. Jenna did the right thing by giving a guy like Max a chance. He was not the stereotypical, good-looking, rich man that wanted to take advantage of his status. He was genuinely a great guy who wanted to find the right woman. Jenna was perfect for him. They were lucky to have found each other.

“You didn’t get any beans. You should try some,” Matthew suggested, breaking me out of my thoughts.

“No, thanks,” I said politely, looking at them on his plate.

“Here.”

How could I refuse when his fork was heading toward my mouth? Matthew caught me off guard when his eyes set on mine. I was desperately trying not to look at him in the eye with every bit of willpower in me. FAIL! Heat emanated not only from his proximity, but also from his charming, sexy smile. After I took a bite, I thanked him and looked away.

Friends…we are just friends…act casual. I said these words repeatedly in my head, but it became extremely difficult when he crossed his legs and placed his arm along the sofa behind me, making it look like we were a couple - smooth move. I was very much aware of his presence, his smell, and the heated electricity that tingled every part of me. My body stiffened even more when his fingers lightly touched my shoulders.

Max and Jenna mirrored each other’s amusing expression when they finally diverted their attention from the conversation with Jenna’s parents and turned to look at us. Needing to stop them from getting any strange ideas, I stood up, grabbed their empty plates, and asked them if they wanted dessert.

As I headed to the kitchen, I heard footsteps behind me. Looking over my shoulder, I saw Matthew holding the rest of the plates I hadn’t picked up. A part of me wanted to smile because he was following me, but the other part of me was nervous.

“Let me help you with the dishes, Becca,” he said sweetly, taking the plates from my hands after he placed the stack he had in the sink.

“You’re the guest. I wouldn’t feel comfortable letting you wash the dishes.” I turned on the water, squirted soap onto the sponge and started to scrub.

“I’ve cooked here before and besides, we’re friends, so I’m not really a guest,” he said, rinsing the plate I just scrubbed.

“Seriously, it’s not much and I can do it myself.” Grabbing more scrubbed dishes to rinse, I nudged Matthew with my hip to make him move over. Suddenly, he pulled the spout from the faucet with one hand, and wrapped his other arm around my waist, pulling my body against his. After he peered at me with a playfully dangerous look, he leaned in to whisper, his lips brushing against my ear. “If you don’t let me help you, I’m going to make you extremely wet. You’ll be so soaked, it will drive you crazy. Believe me, either you’ll be begging me for more or begging me to stop; it’s your choice.” Then he let go.

OMG! Blistering heat sizzled throughout my body. Was he really talking dirty to me or was I really off on the interpretation? Swallowing a big lump of air, I surrendered and moved aside; I had no choice. He had just completely captivated me, making me weak in the knees and absolutely speechless.

“See? We can be two friends washing dishes together. Not so bad, is it?” He bumped his hip into mine as he rinsed the fork in his hand.

Friends, I repeated the word in my mind as a reminder. Trying to hold in my smile, I gave him a playfully evil eye. “Watch it, I have a soapy sponge here,” I threatened.

Matthew twitched his brows and bit his bottom lip, looking at me with a lustful gaze. “I know something we could do with that sponge, but you’d have to be naked.”

Shit! He did it to me again. I was burning up now, but not from anger. Yup, I was going to have to keep my mouth shut and hope to make it the rest of the night without wanting to get naked for him.

Thank goodness, Max and Jenna stepped into the kitchen.

“Where’s our dessert?” Max asked, sporting a huge smile, while gazing at the both of us. His eyes were full of suspicion.

Then I remembered why I’d come into the kitchen in the first place. “Sorry, I thought I would do the dishes first.”

“Why don’t you get the dessert while Becca and I finish the dishes,” Matthew suggested.

Max raised his brows. “Hmmm. I’m not going to ask. Just don’t get her too wet.”

Matthew’s lips curled into a smirk and winked at me. “I believe I already have.”

Not only could I not look at either of them, but my face was redder than it had ever been before, and I wanted to pull out the spout and drench myself in cold water.

14

AFTER COFFEE AND DESSERT, Max and Matthew said good night and left together with Jenna’s parents. Jenna and I sat on the sofa and kicked our feet up. Leaning back, I flicked at the bracelet Jenna got me for Christmas, listening as the charms made a clinking sound. “I love how they sound,” I snorted.