Stone glanced back at her over his shoulder. “So it was his idea?”
She shook her head, smiling. “No. God, no. He argued with me for weeks about it. But I won in the end.”
“And you love it?”
“I do,” she said, and there wasn’t an ounce of insincerity on her face. “I’m my own boss, plus, I get to work with plants. It’s all I ever really cared to do.”
Admittedly, Stone hadn’t known what Stevie’s plans were back in the day. She’d been close to graduating high school, but they never discussed what she would do afterward. And then he left.
He plated the eggs and placed them on the island before grabbing the oven mitts to get the bacon out.
Nico strolled in, his hair damp from his shower, just as Stone dumped the bacon onto one plate and set it in front of Stevie. He glanced between them and then headed for the coffee pot.
“If you leave her alone with that, she’ll eat every piece,” Nico teased, gesturing toward Stevie with his elbow.
“Only because I have to fight you for it,” she said, smiling up at him.
Not for the first time, Stone saw the pure adoration on Stevie’s face when she looked at Nico. They played it off as though they were merely roommates, but Stone could tell it was more than that. Nico had told him as much, and Stone was almost positive Stevie reciprocated his feelings. They were certainly more than merely friends with benefits.
“Tell me this,” Stone prompted. “What would you be doin’ right now if you hadn’t inherited that money?”
Stevie’s left eye squinted—which was fucking adorable—and he could tell she was giving it serious thought as she bit off the end of the bacon strip.
“She’d have a farm full of fruits and vegetables,” Nico answered for her, returning to take the stool beside Stevie.
Stone leaned against the counter with his plate, eating while he watched the interaction between them.
“That’s not true. I would’ve ended up doin’ exactly what I’m doin’ now.”
Nico looked at Stone. “Don’t let her lie to you. She hates sittin’ in the office all day.”
“I donotsit in the office all day,” she countered with a laugh, and it was clear this was an argument they’d had before. “I get outside as much as you do.”
“Maybe.” Nico conceded. “But don’t deny you’d rather be out there more.”
Her eyebrow quirked as she looked at Stone. She shrugged. “I don’t know. I love what I do, so does it matter?”
Stone figured there was no better time than the present to discuss the opportunity he was looking at.
“I talked to my aunt and uncle yesterday,” he explained. “Lorrie and Curtis.”
“I haven’t seen them in a while,” Stevie said as she continued to eat. “How’re they doin’?”
“They’re good. I saw ’em back in December when I came back for Christmas.”
He realized his error as soon as the words were out of his mouth. Stevie’s interest shifted to her food, and she avoided looking at him.
Figuring it was pointless to apologize profusely for something he couldn’t change, he forged ahead. “Anyway. Curtis and Lorrie are willin’ to give me about four hundred acres to do what I want with.”
“Four hundred?” Nico whistled. “That’s a lot of land.”
A rapid thump sounded, drawing their attention to the floor. Jäger was sitting, his little tail thumping on the hardwood as he stared up at Nico. Stone didn’t think it was the whistle that got his attention, but rather the smell of food.
“You’re cute,” Nico said casually. “I know. You want the bacon, but you don’tneedthe bacon.”
Jäger made a cute little whimper sound.
“Give him a bite,” Stevie said, nudging Nico with her elbow.
