Enter Jack.
Jack was helping Ethan return to the top.
“I’ve always wanted to go to his restaurant in Vail.” April opened her eyes fully, and they were a little dreamy. Which he did not like. At all.
She waved her hand. “It’s never worked out. Every time I go through Vail, I’ve got munchkins.” She gave him a look like he should know exactly what she was talking about. And, after two breakfasts together, he absolutely knew what she was talking about. “Michelin Starred restaurants aren’t the place for my kids.”
He chuckled because she was right.
“I want to ask him here to work on some mindful meal prep with you.” Ethan was in the midst of his own brand remix. They could be a powerhouse collaboration with the right direction. “Then we pitch a joint cookbook. Food to help your kid chill out.”
The tagline needed some work, but he had a team for that.
“Ethan Greene, at my house?” April asked, apparently still fixated on the first part.
“If you’re game.”
“Of course I’m game. Who wouldn’t be game?”
“I want to stream it live.” Ethan was nearby, used to the lens, needed the exposure, and he’d do a great job helping April in front of the camera. Jack would help her behind the camera.
“Oh.” April looked up to the sky and let the midmorning sun play across her face. She seemed to come to a conclusion. “All right. Let’s try it.”
The right conclusion.
“You’re bringing Ethan Greene into my house.” She smiled a smile that he could live on for days. “I could seriously hug you right now.”
Jack held his arms wide. “By all means.”
He couldn’t quite say what had come over him. Maybe it was that he was seriously jealous with how excited April was to have a celebrity chef in her home, when he’d really prefer that excitement point his way. Maybe it was because he had no idea why he wanted that excitement pointed his way. In any case, he’d offered and was totally committed to this.
April scooted over the small space to him—clearly more well-versed in the art of hugging, because she wasn’t awkward about it at all, while he had a feeling like he’d just hopped on a bicycle for the first time and was about to take a header into the bushes.
She let him embrace her, and the world righted itself. He hadn’t even noticed it’d been off-kilter. The scent of lavender and candles enveloped him. With the apparent experience of giving quick hugs, she gave a squeeze and began to back up. He wasn’t ready to let her go, though—not when she felt so right—but he released her.
Something must’ve caught her attention. Probably that he wasn’t moving, because he wasn’t sure at all what to do with the way he was feeling inside. The way his stomach felt like he was in one of the headstand-style poses she’d had him do earlier. The way he couldn’t pull his gaze from her glossed lips.
He couldn’t kiss her. That would be horribly inappropriate given all they had to accomplish together. But he wanted to.
She parted her lips the slightest of millimeters and reached for his hand, pulling it to her jaw. He ran his thumb along the apple of her cheek. The morning air totally stilled between them.
“I want to kiss you.” He laid it out there, let it settle between them. Let her decide what she wanted to do with it. Whatever she decided, he’d follow her direction.
“That would complicate everything,” she said, her mouth only a hairsbreadth from his.
“It’s already complicated,” he admitted. It became complicated that morning in her bedroom. The minute this chemistry between them became undeniable.
“Everything in my life is complicated,” she added, but the way she said it implied that in this minute, she didn’t particularly mind. Instead of backing away, she rose to her knees and pressed her mouth to his, taking the power of the kiss into her own hands.
So they were doing this? He should probably do some evaluating before jumping right in, but he decided to just go with it for now.
Let her explore his mouth. Let her fingertips trace the planes of his jaw down to his shoulders. Let her control the kiss.
Until he didn’t.
He couldn’t quite say when he took over, probably when she yielded to the pressure of his lips. Maybe when his hands moved from her jaw to the back of her head. Most likely when she crawled into his lap and melted against him.
It didn’t really matter because they were both breathing heavily. While the world continued to move around them, the only thing that mattered to him was more.
