"I just discovered I have an orchard, Linden. I can't let that go. What do I do about all the apples? Isn't it a problem to leave them there?"
He kissed the top of my head and patted my backside. "Sit down. The apples can wait a minute."
He pulled out a chair and shoved me into it as sweetly as anyone could. I grinned in spite of myself. I didn't mind a good shove when it was Linden doing the shoving. I wouldn't mind him pushing and pulling me around for the next six months. Or longer.
I heard him rustling in the cabinets and then the fridge as I said, "How is it that I didn't notice I had apple trees until now?"
"I don't know what to tell you other than you are extremely gifted with many complex things, and less gifted with a few basic things."
"Are you trying to say I'm some kind of savant who can't change a light bulb?"
"I'm saying you're some kind of savant who can't exit a rotary."
"Ican, it just takes me a few tries."
"I know, babe. I know. It's what makes you special—and completely unreliable with the most random things." I heard him shaking the milk carton over my shoulder. "Wait a second. You didn't have any coffee this morning."
"Hmm?"
"The coffee. You were in the shower when I filled up before leaving for my appointment in Weymouth. You didn't drink any today."
I glanced up at him. "Oh. Yeah. I must've forgotten. I got distracted with emails."
Linden set the milk down as he leveled me with a stern stare. "You haven't touched the clementine marmalade all week."
I shrugged. "Haven't been in the mood."
"Is that it? Really, Jasper? You're forgetting to pour yourself a cup of coffee in the morning, not interested in the last bit of marmalade?"
I shot him the same disinterested look I used on anyone who skated too close to the truth for my comfort. "I can't imagine why any of this is an issue."
Linden growled something I couldn't make out and returned to the task of fixing his coffee. It seemed like we were finished with the topic of me leaving the last of the cold brew and Diana's homemade marmalade for him, and that was a relief. The only thing worse than worrying about taking too much was having a discussion based on someone noticing I worried about taking too much. Hell, that was almost as bad as someone noticingand talking aboutmy constant need to arrive early.
Linden set a mug down in front of me, another one beside the stack of papers he'd been working on when I came in. I wasn't sure when he'd picked up more of the locally roasted, small batch, slow-steeped coffee he preferred, seeing as there'd been only one serving left earlier today.
He ran a hand over my shoulders before circling the table and dropping into his seat. "Let's get a few things straight, Jasper."
I eyed him, a brow arched up in an automatic show of defiance. I couldn't help it. Most of the time, I didn't even notice I did it. But I didn't take well to anyone else doing the straightening. I was the sheriff in these parts.
"There will be no more of you leaving the last few spoonfuls of marmalade, the last cup of coffee, none of it. You don't think I see you insisting on showering after me?"
"On the rare occasions in which you permit me to shower independently? That evidence seems insufficient to me."
He rested his forearms on the table, his shirtsleeves rolled up to his elbows, and leaned in. "I don't usually go for it when you use that dagger-sharp, killer boss lady voice on me but it's working right now. It's working."
I couldn't stop the smile from tugging at the corners of my lips. "Perhaps it would serve you well to discard this nonsense topic in favor of one more mutually agreeable."
"You're so fucking cute."
I replied with a playful shrug and took a sip of the coffee he'd fixed for me.
"You're cute but I'm not letting you shrug your way out of this," he said. "I don't want to see you leaving the last of anything for me, you understand?"
I studied him for a second. His beard looked thicker than usual today, as if he'd let days pass between trims. I liked it. I liked him slightly overgrown, slightly wild. It suited him.
As uncomfortable as I found this conversation, a small, fragile piece of me also liked when he took charge. When heinsisted. I didn't want to like it, I didn't want to feel seen and protected because he noticed me leaving the coffee—and the hot water—for him. I didn't want to be needy in this way. And that was why I pressed my hands to my eyes and let my shoulders fall, saying, "But I can't. Okay? I can't."
"That's tough shit, Jas, because you're going to have to. I'm not putting up with these pointless restrictions of yours anymore."
