Jasper arched a brow. “Mhm. And I suppose you also stare out of windows for the pleasure of contemplating the weather?”
Greyson’s jaw clenched. “It rained earlier.”
“So, youwerecontemplating the weather?”
Greyson said nothing.
Jasper’s grin widened. “Greyson, my dear fellow, you have it so badly.”
“I have nothing,” Greyson growled. “Least of all whatever nonsense you are implying.”
“Nonsense?” Jasper echoed. “You were gazing at her as if you had forgotten the entire English language.”
Greyson turned sharply away from the window, stalking toward his desk with all the grace of a storm cloud. “I do not gaze.”
“Youdo. Quite prettily, in fact.”
Greyson froze mid-step. “Say that again, and I shall have you removed from this house.”
Jasper laughed, trailing after him. “It is not an insult. Merely an observation. Your lovely wife has that effect on people. Rather dangerous, actually.”
Greyson stiffened again.
Jasper narrowed his eyes. “Ah. There it is. You are worried.”
“Ridiculous.”
“Terrified, then?”
Greyson shot him a lethal look. “I fear nothing.”
“Except feelings,” Jasper said cheerfully. “And wives. And feelings about wives.”
Greyson sank into his chair with a frustrated exhale, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “She was helping the gardener.”
“And what a devastating activity that must be for your nerves.”
Greyson glared. “She was smiling.”
“Yes,” Jasper replied. “Hazel does that. It is shocking.”
Greyson ignored him, though tension lingered in every line of his body. “She… makes the household easier.” He paused as though the admission cost him something. “People respond to her.”
Jasper leaned against the writing table. “Including you.”
Greyson looked away sharply. “Do not start.”
Jasper held up his hands in surrender. “Very well. I shall not mention it again.”
“You will,” Greyson said darkly.
“Oh, absolutely,” Jasper agreed. “But not for the next five minutes, out of respect for your pride.”
Greyson let out a huff that might have been acceptance, or it might have been irritation. Jasper rarely bothered to distinguish between the two.
He turned back toward the window, though Hazel was no longer in sight. “Hazel went to see my mother.”
Jasper nodded easily. “Yes, I know, you told me this,” he amended with a faint grin.
