As soon as she walks back to her house, Kaden resumes mowing the lawn, and I step inside, needing a moment to getmy shit together after watching that infuriating exchange between my friend and neighbour.
I’m in the kitchen, rinsing my cup and loading the rest of the dishes into the dishwasher, when I hear the front door open and close, followed by heavy, booted footsteps that stop just behind me.
“Hope?” Kaden says, his voice low and gravelly.
I turn around, wiping my hands on a kitchen towel, and smile at him. “Hey… all done?”
“I’ve just gotta trim the edges and then I’ll be finished.”
I nod silently, folding the towel neatly on the island before grabbing some paper towels and the surface spray to start wiping down the bench, even though it’s already spotless.
“Why did you leave?” he asks softly.
I shrug nonchalantly. “I could see you were almost done, so I thought I’d start tidying up a bit before we finish for the day.”
My eyes stay lowered, focused on scrubbing the non-existent stains on the marble counter, just to keep him from seeing the irritation on my face.
Suddenly, I feel the tips of his fingers brush along my bicep, soft and feathery, and when I turn my head to look at him, his brows are drawn tightly into a frown.
“Are you okay?” he asks, his tone cautious.
I chuck the soiled paper towel into the rubbish bin and turn to face him fully.
“Yeah… why wouldn’t I be?”
His eyes narrow, and his head tilts slightly to the side, as if trying to study me.
“She asked me if I was a gardener,” he begins, explaining. “Her and her husband are looking for a landscaper to redo their yards. She said everyone she’d contacted was either too expensive or too unreliable. When I told her I wasn’t, that I’m just helping a friend mow her lawns, she left shortly after that.”
“You don’t need to explain yourself, Kaden.”
“I know, but I wanted to. And I’m sorry if it upset you.”
I huff, folding my arms over my chest. “I’m not upset, Kaden. I don’t care who you talk to. I’m not your girlfriend.” My voice comes out sharp and dismissive.
His brow lifts at the tone of my voice, and I can tell he knows I’m a little riled up, even though there’s no real reason to be, and especially since he hasn’t done anything wrong.
His expression softens as he takes a step closer, narrowing the space between us. He’s so near that I can feel the warmth radiating from his skin.
“I know you said we’re only friends, but Hope… if you ever wonder what kind of woman really holds my interest—holds all of my attention—it’s certainly not someone like Giselle. The only woman I think about day and night, the only one I truly want… is someone I can never have.”
He tucks my hair behind my ear with his finger, his intense green eyes holding mine hostage as he does.
“But if the day ever comes that she tells me she wants me too, then I will be hers and hers alone. I’ll spend the rest of my days proving it to her. Because the moment she becomes mine, there is no one else in this world I will ever need.”
He takes a step back, slipping his hands into the pockets of his shorts, the fabric dipping just enough to reveal that irresistible V-spot of his. His confession has completely thrown me off balance, and even as I try to steady my breathing, I find myself struggling to form a coherent response.
As if sensing my shock and inner turmoil, he chuckles and smoothly changes the subject. “How about I finish up the front yard, and then afterwards I take you out for something to eat? I don’t know about you, but I’m starving,” he adds, rubbing his stomach dramatically.
“Yeah, okay,” I finally respond. “I’ll just go freshen up.”
He nods, and then—as if he hadn’t just laid his heart bare to me, turns on his heel and walks back out the front door, taking all the air from my lungs with him.
Kaden shifts the car into park after circling for nearly five minutes, finally claiming a vacant spot. The Thai restaurant we chose for dinner is packed to the brim, a line already spilling out the front door. It’ll likely be another fifteen or twenty minutes before we’re seated, and probably ten more before we’re even served. He offers to go somewhere else, but we’ve already waited this long for a parking spot—what’s another few minutes?
“Are you absolutely sure you don’t want me to take you somewhere else?” he asks again as we hop out of the car.
“I’m positive. We’re already here, and all that car stalking just to get a parking spot would’ve been for nothing,”
