Return To Rose Cottage: The Laws of Attraction

“Who taught you?”

Ah, there was that minefield she’d been dreading. “Josh,” she admitted. “I sort of ran into him on the water this morning.”

“Ran into him?”

“Literally,” she confessed. “I took the kayak out. When I slammed into his rowboat, I lost the paddle. He took me on board his boat.”

“As in kidnapped you or offered you refuge?”

“Refuge, I suppose.”

“I see. You sound surprisingly upbeat for a woman who has spent the entire day in the company of a man who supposedly annoys you, doing something that you wouldn’t have been caught dead doing a week ago.”

“Times change.”

“And your attitude toward Josh—has that changed, too?”

“I always said he was nice. He just got on my nerves last night at your place.”

Maggie laughed. “Oh, this is too good. I’m picking up Melanie and coming over. I want to hear more about this fishing excursion.”

“Forget about it,” Ashley said emphatically.

“Why?”

“Because Josh is coming back for dinner. I’m cooking the fish.”

“You’re cooking the fish?” Maggie repeated so skeptically it was insulting.

“Yes, dammit. You could help and just tell me how. It’ll save me having to look up a recipe.”

“Who’s cleaning the fish?” Maggie asked.

“Josh.”

“Thank God. For a minute, I thought the world might be coming to an end.”

“Stop it. Are you going to help me out here or not, Maggie?”

“Okay, okay. You want simple or fancy?”

“What do you think?” Ashley asked wryly.

“Simple it is. Dredge the fillets in flour, salt and pepper, then fry them in about a quarter inch of oil. Make sure the oil is hot, but not too hot. You don’t want to burn the fish.”

Ashley jotted the instructions down, even though they seemed foolproof. “How long?”

“Till the flour is golden brown. It shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes on each side, depending on how thick the fillets are.”

“And that’s all there is to it?” Ashley asked, frowning at the simple directions. “You’re not leaving out anything critical, so I’ll wind up being totally embarrassed?”

“I would not let you humiliate yourself,” Maggie said, sounding wounded by the suggestion. “This is an easy one, Ash. You’ll do fine. What else are you having?”

“Salad, and Josh said he’d pick up something for dessert.”

“Chocolate?”

“Yes, if you must know.”

“My, my. You don’t usually lay into the chocolate until you’re really, really comfortable with a man. Or under a lot of stress. Which is it, Ashley?”

“Go suck an egg. Josh is an easygoing guy. It’s no big deal. It’s not like it’s a date or something.”

“Really? Not a date? Just out of curiosity, what would you call it?”

“Dinner with a friend.”

Maggie chuckled. “Delusional, but nice. Have fun, big sister.”

She hung up before Ashley could reassert that her sister was way, way off base.

What was it with women and chocolate? Josh stared indecisively at the display case in the bakery. There was a chocolate layer cake, a chocolate mousse cake, two brownies with icing and walnuts, and eclairs topped with chocolate icing and filled with chocolate cream. They all looked decadent enough to him, but which one would satisfy Ashley? He had a hunch she was very particular.

“Decided yet?” the cheery young clerk asked him.

“Which is your favorite?”

She shrugged. “I like blueberry pie myself.”

Obviously she was going to be no help at all. He finally gave up in frustration. “I’ll take it all.”

Her jaw dropped. “Are you having a party or something?”

“Not really.” He was pretty sure dinner with Ashley didn’t qualify as a party. He doubted she even saw it as a date.

To be honest, he hadn’t quite decided what this evening was all about, either. He just knew that he’d rushed like crazy to get ready to go to Rose Cottage. Being invited there by one of the D’Angelo sisters was like a dream come true. Despite all the strides he’d made in building his self-confidence over the years, he still couldn’t quite believe it. He felt like the shy, awkward boy he’d been at sixteen. He wanted to get this right.

He paid the disbelieving clerk for the boxes of desserts, then headed the few miles back to Rose Cottage.

When Ashley opened the door, he almost swallowed his tongue. She was wearing a thin robe that clung to her still damp body, revealing every intriguing shadow, every lush curve. Her hair was in damp ringlets that sprang free from some sort of scrunchy thing that was supposed to be holding it on top of her head.

“Sorry,” she said, sounding frantic. “I had a phone call right after you left. It took me longer to get started in the shower than I expected. Make yourself at home. Get whatever you need in the kitchen to clean the fish. I’ll be down in a minute.”

She bolted for the stairs without waiting for a reply. Just as well, Josh thought, since it took him fully a minute to get the blood flowing back to his brain where it was necessary for speech.

“Clean the fish,” he muttered as he set out to find the kitchen. “Just concentrate on cleaning the fish.” Maybe that would drive the provocative image of Ashley in that revealing robe out of his head before she came back downstairs.

He was out back, scraping the scales from the last fish, when she finally emerged from the house. Thankfully, she was wearing loose jeans and a shapeless T-shirt, which looked as if they’d been borrowed from someone two sizes larger. Even so, she managed to stir his blood. Apparently she was going to do that no matter what she wore, he concluded. He’d just have to resign himself to it.