“Hey.” His deep, rumbly voice slid through her belly like lava.
She cleared her throat. “Hey. Good run?”
Good work. She wanted to give herself a big pat on the back for how unaffected she sounded.
He crossed the living room and walked into the kitchen, the muscles in his stomach contracting as he moved. “Yeah. I used to love running with my team. It’s harder since I got out and don’t have them pushing me. I’ve lost a bit of my fitness. I might get Becket to start running with me.”
Lost a bit of his fitness? What had he been like before? The Terminator? Right now, he looked and moved like a gladiator. But then, so did his brother Becket, who was a former Navy SEAL. It must be a special operations thing. The men were just built different.
He nodded toward her phone before grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge. “Was that Callie?”
“Yep, she called to check in.”
One side of Jesse’s mouth lifted, showing the sexiest dimple she’d ever seen. “You tell her how terrible it is to live with me?”
“I absolutely told her about our mess situation.”
The mess situation beingherleaving messes and Jesse getting on her back about it. She wasn’t a messy person. In fact, she’d always considered herself quite tidy. Sure, she left the occasional coffee cup on the table. The odd pile of clothes in the bathroom. Jesse was just a bit of a clean freak.
“I trust she and Lock are on my side,” Jesse said.
“Do you know anything about how female friendships work? No matter how wrong I am, that woman will defend me until her last breath.”
“So you admit you’re wrong.”
“Never.”
He chuckled, and the sound was beautiful.
Stop it, Aspen. Every inch of him may be unbelievably gorgeous, but you’re not dating for a very, very long time. Years…maybe centuries!
He walked around her to the sink, and his arm grazed hers. The gesture almost made her shudder…almost.
He did that a lot. Little grazes here and there. Small touches.
Torture. It was all torture.
“What are you doing today?” he asked.
“Well, I was supposed to write three thousand words yesterday, but I ended up writing minus three thousand, so today I need to write six just to catch up to where I’m supposed to be.” Did she think that would happen? No. But she could dream.
“How do you write minus three thousand words?”
“You don’t want to know. But I’m trying a new writing location. It’s called The Tea House, and I’m hoping it inspires me.” So far, she hadn’t felt like writing in any of the places she’d tried around town. The diner. Public parks. The library. They all sucked for inspiration.
He frowned. “We have a tea house in Amber Ridge?”
“I thought this was your hometown?”
“It is. I’m just not much of a tea drinker. My mom might know about it. You don’t want to write at the diner?”
“No. That’s where I wrote my minus three thousand words yesterday. Plus, their coffee sucks.”
“All the coffee in Amber Ridge sucks.”
She wouldn’t have believed that if she hadn’t experienced it firsthand. How not a single business in an entire town could make a good cup of coffee, she had no idea. “Maybe this tea house has good coffee.” Did tea houses sell coffee?
He gave her a keep-dreaming smile. “Do you want a ride?”
