Resent, Reject, Regret by Aqua Summers

Deirdre tossed an implicative glance outside the kitchen. "Believe me, I've seen the worst, and now nobody else's skill could ever faze me again.

Seriously, try to surprise me."

"Heh." Declan excitedly washed his hands and grabbed a spare knife. He made a few nicks and began to unpeel it. "How’s this?"

Deirdre's poor sight would not be able to help her tell, but she also thought this was the best opportunity to get Glenna and Declan talking again. "What do you think, Glenna?"

Quietly exasperated, Glenna turned in the direction of Declan's hand and noticed how beautiful his fingers really were. It was as if a man with good genes simply could not have anything remotely out of place in any part of their physical appearance. Glenna never fancied herself as someone who gave a dime about hands, and yet even her heart throbbed.

When she finally broke out of her trance, she realized she had been silent too long.

Declan tried to dispel the awkwardness in the air with a chuckle. "I must have done a really crappy job if my panelist can't review my handiwork."

another nick.

set her knife and

Declan could only remark to himself, "Okay.

into and felt her heart sink. She could not stop thinking about the conversation she had overheard. What happened? What was it

of you had made up, Mr. King, but why does it seem like she's still holding a

at that time despite himself and asked, "Say, what

question is

forcing himself out of his memories before finding an excuse. "I just

to her work as she exhaled a breath. "Glenna's a tough cookie. I've never seen or heard her cry before, which means... if she did cry, then it must have been

explained that she was having a stomachache. Not willing to expose her, Deirdre played along. "Had

must be that super-spicy taco from the other day. D*mnit, I should

oil into a frying

fresh, crispy potato chips was ready. Deirdre moved on to their other dishes-including Glenna's

always been a lively chatterbox, yet today, she was uncharacteristically quiet and seemed almost too