“I'm glad you can move on because I’ll only worry about you during forty percent of the season, Sunshine.”
“Why are you going to worry about me?”
I pull the garlic bread out of the freezer and pop it onto a tray. Taking the lasagna out to let it cool, I put the bread in the oven.
“I was worried about you getting back on your feet this summer.” Dax looks around.
“I couldn’t have done it without you.” I walk around the counter. “Do you want to see what I’ve been working on this week?”
“Show me.”
A small, velvet tray sits on the coffee table in the living room. There are only four rings, but they are perfect. All made of silver, a different colored gemstone sits on the tops in various shapes.
“It took me a while to figure out how to get the gems to stay, but I like how they turned out.”
Dax studies them, picking each one up and rubbing his finger over the metal. “These are really good, Chloe. You’ve done a great job.”
“You mean that?”
He nods. “You know I’ve always liked what you make.”
“I know you do.”
The silver of his necklace glints in the light.
“I don’t know how long these took you to make, but I’m proud of you.”
Dax turns his sweet brown eyes on me and passes the ring over. I suck in a breath as his fingers brush against mine.
It’s the softest, briefest of touches. But it sets off a torrent of emotions inside of me. It sends me right back to the moment in his arms when we were zip-lining. How good it felt. If he hadn’t come with me, I wouldn’t be sitting here thinking about how much I want to feel his hands in other places.
Stop. It.
Dax is your best friend. You don’t want to mess things up with him.
“Have you started selling them online?” Dax asks, breaking me out of my thoughts.
“One ring at a time.”
“Do you think you’ll venture outside of rings?”
I laugh. “Eventually. I need to get rings down first and maybe make more than two a day.”
The oven timer dings and we head back into the kitchen. “How can I help?”
“Want to grab the salads and take them over to the table?”
“Sure.”
My eyes watch Dax as he gets everything sorted on the card table. I tried to dress it up, but I didn’t have much to use aside from throwing a floral tea towel over it.
As I scoop out two steaming pieces of lasagna onto our plates, my eyes track Dax. He’s so at ease here. I’ve never noticed how efficiently or smoothly he moves in my space.
I like having him here. With the season getting ready to start, my time with him is going to be cut in half.
“Thanks for making dinner,” Dax says as we both sit down.
“Here’s to a great season.” I hold up my glass in cheers and we clink. “I’m going to miss you once the season starts.”
