Page 55 of The Strawberry Patch Pancake House

It was all messy.

But Archer hadn’t said a word about it.

‘I think that went well,’ she continued. ‘The meeting, I mean.’ Not whatever weird energy they’d just witnessed between Annie and Mac. Iris had her own chef that looked at her like he wanted to devour her, she couldn’t deal with Annie’s problems too.

‘As well as it could have, I guess.’ He gestured to an open high-top table and they moved over to it. The stools had been borrowed by another table, but they at least had a place to put their drinks and lean their elbows.

‘I’m glad you came out.’

He took another swig of his beer. ‘Yeah, me too. It’s been a while. Actually, I don’t think I’ve been out at 9pm in a long time.’

For a second, Iris thought he meant he liked to tuck in early but then she realized he was usually working at this time of night.

‘You were basically nocturnal?’

A small tip of his lips sent a thrill through her body. ‘Basically.’

‘Isn’t it nice to be able to see the sun now?’

‘I wouldn’t know. It’s been raining since I got here.’

Iris shrugged. ‘It’ll clear up eventually.’

He was studying her over the rim of his glass and Iris fidgeted with the pull tab on her can of cider. The coziness of the pub was suddenly too hot, too close. She wished this tiny table between them was bigger.

How on earth was she supposed to maintain friendly professionalism when the man looked at her like that? All that dark intensity aimed directly at her? It made her want to say ‘Yes, chef!’ and do anything he asked.

Uh, oh. Danger, Iris! Danger!

It was exactly that type of attitude that had led to those sweaty two-night stands in a stranger’s tent at a musical festival, and to her mother changing boyfriends every other year. In that way, she and her mother were the same, chasing that spark, falling for men that burned hot and then burned out.

Would Archer burn out?

‘How do you do that?’ he asked.

Iris blinked. Do what? Turn a glance into an entire relationship in her head? Easy. A very active imagination. Probably not what he was asking though.

‘Do what?’

‘You’re always so … positive about things.’

‘Oh, that.’ She shrugged. ‘It’s a double-edged sword. It’s also why I’m always late. Optimistic people are overly optimistic about their ability to get somewhere on time. And they’re usually wrong.’

Archer’s smile grew and there was that damn dimple.

‘Are you not a positive person?’ she asked.

Archer’s smile morphed into a frown. ‘I’m not really sure. For so long, I just set my mind to something and then I did it. I didn’t really think about whether it would work out or not.’ His laugh was a little harsh, a little bitter. ‘For a while, I actually thought I was in control of how things would go.’

He shook his head.

‘You told Olive she was the best surprise. Did you mean it?’

He was quiet for a beat and Iris was sure she’d overstepped, but things felt different here at the pub. They were just two people out for a drink. Not a boss and employee, a father and a nanny. And besides, they were surrounded by people instead of being alone in the kitchen. How much trouble could they possibly get into? Right?

‘I meant it. She’s… I…’ He huffed a frustrated sigh. ‘It’s hard to explain. At first, I felt bad I didn’t have this instant love for her, like this immediate fatherly reaction, but now, I don’t know, when she looks at me with those big eyes…’

‘I feel ya. Those eyes are killer.’