“Morning,” he responded. “Looks like you’re expecting an army.”
She offered him a wide grin and the sight of it relaxed the knot sitting in the pit of his stomach, untwisting it one complicated loop after another.Maybe I haven’t screwed things up as badly as I thought.
“With you and your men added to our ranks, and your dad’s security consultation firm coming, I figured variety and volume were called for. You or your men didn’t mention any food restrictions. In case any of you are vegan or lactose intolerant, I used soy milk in the oatmeal and plant butter in the grits. I put everything in separate chafing dishes with designated serving utensils on the off chance any of you might have food allergies. I can whip up some avocado toast, too, if any of you want it.”
She wasn’t wrong about the volume part. She didn’t know it yet, but his brother, Kip, ate like he had a hole in his stomach.
“All the chafing dishes have food in them except the one for the eggs. I’ll start those after I finish this last batch of bacon. Get a plate and help yourself.”
By the time he reached the middle of the buffet, she walked around the counter carrying the largest skillet he’d ever seen piled high with fluffy eggs. He rested his plate on the counter and opened the empty chafing dish for her.
“Thanks,” she muttered. “I appreciate the help.” She glanced up at him and gave him that sweet smile again where her long lashes fanned across high cheekbones, and her full lips curved into a most tempting bow that made need twist inside him.
“I take it by your pleasant mood this morning I’m no longer in the doghouse?”
“It’s a new day, Jackson. With each sunrise, there’s a new chance to get things right. That’s what Restoration Ranch is about. Everyone deserves a chance to make things right—even you.”
“Does that mean I get my slice of pineapple coconut cake today?”
She laughed and threw a dish towel at him. He caught it before it connected with his face. The playful way the glint of danger danced across her eyes called to him like metal to lightning, inevitable as if there was no way he could walk away. “That means you get another chance to earn a slice of pineapple coconut cake. Let’s hope you don’t lose the privilege again.”
“Speaking of privilege, I abused mine last night. I crossed a line when I kissed you. I’m very sorry for taking advantage.”
The smile spilled from her face as she squinted at him, and that somehow made her look more captivating than she already did. She stepped closer and he could smell something sweet, like a decadent frosted treat that wafted up in the air, pulling him nearer.
“You apologized barely a minute ago for being an asshole. Don’t continue with the same dickish behavior.”
He wasn’t sure how to respond to her. Was she chastising him or consoling him?
“Jackson.” Her voice was soft, but it was strong, filled with certainty and confidence. “I didn’t feel taken advantage of. In fact, I seem to remember telling you last night I wasn’t sorry about it. If you have some protocol that forbids you from kissing me, that’s fine. Because I can understand needing to follow the rules. But if you’re doing it out of some misguided sense of decency, then please spare yourself the trouble. I wanted that kiss as much as you did.”
He swallowed, partly because hearing in her voice how much she’d wanted his lips on hers set his blood on fire, and partly because his mouth was so dry from surprise that he couldn’t speak. He cleared his throat quickly before focusing on her again.
“I don’t want to overstep, Aja. Your uncle didn’t send me here to maul you.”
“No, he sent you here to help me. And the comfort of physical affection was what I needed then. You have nothing to worry about. It was a kiss. Nothing more.”
The edges of her mouth lifted into that wide, welcoming smile of hers, and a heavy weight lifted off Jackson, one he hadn’t been aware he was carrying. Relief caressing him like strong but comforting fingers across his skin, Jackson wondered, and not for the first time, how different his life might have been if he’d met this woman before his life had shattered into tiny splintering pieces.
He didn’t know if he could manage not to piss her off again, especially when he seemed to be so good at doing it. But the hope blooming inside his chest at the possibility of keeping that perfect smile on her face spread all the way out to his limbs and made him ache with everything he had to please her.
* * *
The hum of morning conversation filled the kitchen, and a familiar swell of joy bubbled up inside Aja. Six people sat at her table volleying friendly chatter back and forth between each bite of food.
The scene tickled something deep inside her. Before her relationship with her sister turned into something dark and sinister, and before work consumed her world, there was joy. Back then, she was a happy little girl surround by a family with no cares in the world.
That place, that person was a forgotten wonder to her. But as the sun streamed into the open room, filling it with light, and she looked around at the six of them sitting, eating, and talking together, Aja’s heart danced a little.
She sat next to Jackson, sneaking a peek at him, and wondered why eating with him, his men, and her ladies made her feel so nostalgic.
This moment somehow tapped into the treasured memories of days gone by. Back then, the ranch would be filled with loads of her Henry kin. Aunties, uncles, and cousins once, twice, and thrice removed filling every available nook and cranny of this property and every structure on it until it was full to bursting.
Every morning, all the adults would eat in the kitchen, and her mother, Aunt Jo, and Uncle Ricky, and the rest of their brothers and sisters, would sit around this table and eat while the children sat in the living room on the floor. Everyone balancing their plates on their knees as they huddled around the television. It was loud and chaotic, but everything about those moments made Aja grin over her raised cup of coffee.
“Penny for your thoughts.”
She shook her head. “Thinking about my family.”
