“I don’t like you walking home after dark. You should have called. I would have picked you up.”
Why did it feel like more than that?
She walked into the kitchen and pulled some containers of leftover Chinese takeout from the fridge. “You know, this is Amber Ridge. It’s pretty safe here.”
“Funny you should say that. I just told my mom the same thing.”
“Oh, did she tell you we met?”
“She did. She wants to have you over for dinner.”
Aspen paused in the middle of pulling a fork from the drawer. “Really? Why?”
One side of Jesse’s mouth lifted. “I guess she likes you.”
“Two moms in one day. I’m on a roll.” She tipped the Chinese into bowls, just assuming Jesse would have some too, before putting them into the microwave.
“I take it you had a good day with your mom?”
She set the microwave timer. “I did actually. We went to the diner, we walked, we talked. We haven’t spent a whole day together since I was a kid, and we’ve certainly never spent so much time together without arguing. I kept waiting for the switch to flip and for her to say something horrible to me, but it never happened.”
Jesse leaned a hip against the island. “Maybe the distance has done the relationship some good.”
“Maybe. I mean, I hope so. I was almost wondering if she’s actually sought some help from a therapist or something, but Iwas too scared to ask.” Mentions of her mother’s mental health had never gone well in the past.
She grabbed the Chinese from the microwave and handed one bowl to Jesse.
He slipped it from her fingers. “Thanks.”
“So, you gonna tell me why you got weird about me coming home late?”
His frown deepened, and his fork paused its stirring. “Not right now. You’ve had a good day. We should keep it that way.”
She cocked her head. Did he have something to tell her that would ruin her day? She opened her mouth to ask, then stopped. He was right. Shewashaving a good day, and she didn’t want to ruin it.
She cleared her throat. “Did you arrest anyone today?”
Jesse laughed, and the deep timbre made all the fine hairs on her arms stand on end. “I cuffed someone. Does that count?”
“Absolutely.”
They spent the rest of the evening talking and laughing about anything and everything while eating two-day-old Chinese food and finishing it off with ice cream. It felt good. Easy. But then, conversation with Jesse had always felt easy.
When they were both done, Jesse took her bowl and popped it into the dishwasher. “I may check the locks and head to bed now.”
“Did I wear you out?” She grinned, but that grin slipped when he lowered his head and his lips brushed her ear.
“Nope. With you, I could go all night.”
Her belly rolled, a tingle slipping over every inch of her skin. Then she swallowed as she watched him leave the room, her gaze fixed on his broad shoulders. The muscles in his back contracting beneath his shirt as he moved.
Man, he was a temptation she rarely felt strong enough to resist.
She was still smiling when her phone beeped with a text. She pulled it from her pocket to see it was her mother. The smile dropped the second she read over the words.
Mom: Did you say something to him?
Aspen: Who?
