Tell Me With Flowers

20. Side effects

MILES

I had never seen any woman be angry with me before. All they wanted was to please me and keep me by their side. But Megan? She was looking at me with guarded eyes the whole dinner that I had to rethink about the topics I wanted to talk with her.

Did she have a fair idea about the things I had discussed with Austen?

Only when she had finished dinner, I had let my heart calm down. Maybe this was a bad idea and I had to get another chef to do this. Maybe I had to approach her differently.

I told her that I was staying back, when she had said her goodbyes to me. I needed a moment to calm my racing heart before I was able to drive again.

Shaking my head at my absurdity, I reached for my coat after a while and put on my scarf around my neck. It was colder than the other nights today and the worst part was, I hadn't realized it till she was here with me.

God, I was getting sappy.

All I had to do was to get home and sleep it off. The next day would be great. At least that's what I hoped for.

I nodded my head at the security as I got out of the building towards the parking. To my surprise, Megan was standing next to her truck, which she called it as her car, inspecting something under the hood. With my eyebrows scrunched together, I walked up to her.

Her mouth was in a cute pout as she held the bonnet in one hand and her mobile torch on the other. For a second, I felt like putting my arms around her waist and surprise her. But then I refrained.

Not yet, Miles. I reminded. Not yet.

"Megan?" I called, as I got closer.

She jumped up in fright. Her head hit the bonnet and her mobile fell inside the hood. The light rays projected itself through the numerous wires, illuminating her pained face. She looked more than beautiful with the glow, as a shower of light snow fell on us.

She was an angle in disguise.

"God, Megan." I said, rushing to her help. "I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"

Her hands went to her head, rubbing the spot as the bonnet fell down on the hood with a loud thud. "You scared me!" She said, shoving my chest with her slender hands. I wanted to smile at her; for no one had done that to me ever except for my brother and Dylan. "And this is aching."

I took a step closer to her and gently put my hand on top of her head. It surely had got a small hump on the spot. "Should we go see a doctor?" I asked, concerned.

"No, I'll be fine." She said, moving away. She took a hand full of snow that had been shovelled away from the parking. She made a lump of it and then placed it on her head, on top of the spot. "See, why I love snow?"

I bit my lip from laughing. "What were you doing here with the hood open?"

"The car won't start." She muttered, kicking the tyre lightly. "I wanted to check what was wrong with it, but I couldn't figure it out."

I wanted to roll my eyes at that. Ladies and motors didn't mix well, especially when that lady was Megan Taylor.

"I thought I had understood it, just when you made your grand entry." She let her gaze fall on me for a second longer than necessary. She put the snow away and bent over the hood to retrieve her phone. "Anyway, I'll let the car stay overnight here, it's no problem, right?"

I shook my head sideways. "Not a problem. So, you want a lift home?"

"No, that's really fine." She said, tucking her hair behind her ears. "I'll just walk. I'm staying at Smith's these days. It's only a few blocks away from here. I'll be okay."