I snorted, stroking Luna idly as she purred for me.
“What do you get out of this deal where you’re the perfect boyfriend,” I said, voice catching onboyfriend. How long was that going to last now? “Where you’re the perfect boyfriend,” I repeated, pausing again to clear my throat. “And I’m mostly a needy wreck?”
“Like I said before,” Xander turned his head to kiss my hair again. “I get you. And I know you’re Mr. Hotshot Salesman, but not everything is a business transaction. I don’t need to getvalueout of you. I just like it when you’re around.”
“I’m a terrible salesman,” I said. “But it’s the family business, so…”
I wasn’t sure what came afterso, and I was glad Xander didn’t nudge me about it.
“What you need is bacon,” he said instead. “And day-old sourdough pan fried in butter and bacon grease with a fried egg on top.”
My stomach agreed loudly with him. I hadn’t been hungry until he mentioned food, but now that it was on offer, I was starving.
Xander laughed. “I should’ve told you I was a baker months ago,” Xander said. “You would’ve come all the way from Seattle to see me.”
“The minute you told me you wanted me to,” I said, because it was true. I’d barely known Xander a week before I’d started fantasizing about going to see him.
“See? It’s gonna be fine. We’ll work something out,” Xander paused, running his fingers along my chin to tilt my face up, then pressing his lips against mine. Soft, gentle, healing, with nothing behind it apart from comfort.
“It’ll be fine.”
I’d spent all day painting and assembling and arranging, dragging the bed and mattress downstairs, and was just wondering if my back would be more or less mad at me if I took a nap in the rocking chair I’d gotten for Dawn when Xander showed up and shooed me out of the room to clear the paint fumes from my lungs and go pick up coffee before Grinding closed.
My lungs and my back were both grateful for the walk. After a day of only having myself and my podcasts for company, even being interrogated by Dante about what kind of crystal I felt most drawn to was surprisingly welcome.
Harvey appearing from his kitchen—a rare occurrence, I’d come to understand—and presenting me with a box of six yuzu marmalade cookies and the shiest little smile was evenmorewelcome. I promised him a personal review and an Instagram post about them, because I was convinced they’d be incredible based on the smell. Iggy watched him disappear into the kitchen again with his mouth hanging open and told me this meant I was practically Harvey’s best friend now.
I liked the thought of that, of making new friends, and it made me smile all the way to the bakery, where Xander was waiting out front.
“Set up an old fan to clear out the paint fumes before we finish up,” he said, leaning back against the door. I passed him his coffee and showed him the box of cookies.
“Harvey’s testing a new recipe,” I said. “Yuzu marmalade cookies.”
“Your favorite.” Xander grinned at me. “He’s figured out the way to your heart.”
“Not jealous?” I asked, leaning back beside him. It was just late enough for the streets to be washed gold by the setting sun, and everything looked more beautiful than I’d ever seen it before.
I’d turned up in Otter Bay expecting a couple of weeks of being bored out of my mind in a small town. What I’d found couldn’t have been further from it.
“Nope,” Xander said, taking a bite of his cookie and making a happy noise while he chewed and swallowed. “Okay, envious maybe that Harvey makes you baked goods instead of me. But. First of all, he worships the ground Iggy walks on. Second of all, if you wanna arrange a foursome…”
I snorted. “It is genuinely unbelievable to me that one person wants to sleep with me, I think two more is too much to ask.”
Xander sighed. “I’ll cure you of thinking like that one day,” he said. “Even if it takes a foursome.”
“What if I only want you?” I asked, brushing my fingers against his.
Because I did only want him. I loved him.
We’d figure this out. We’d have to. How many more chances would we get at something like this? I didn’t want to play the odds that I’d ever find someone like Xander again.
“Feeling’s mutual,” Xander said, taking another bite of his cookie. “Would be kinda hot though, you and Harvey making out.”
I laughed out loud this time, taking my first bite of cookie and seriously considering running back to the coffee shop to make Xander’s wish come true.
“Holy shit,” I murmured, shoving another bite in my mouth. “I have to take a photo of these before we eat them all, hang on.”
Xander waited patiently as I set up a couple of shots. He even let me use him as a hand model with one cookie perched on top of his coffee cup, my chin hooked over his shoulder so I could see what I was doing.
