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“I take that as a compliment,” he said, clicking the pen. “Now, let’s start. Number one.”

Jess set down the paint roller, realizing there really was no way out of this. Plus, would it really be so bad if she spent her summer doing the things she’d always wanted to do? It seemed a little silly but…it also sounded nice.

She crossed her arms. “Open up my own bakery.”

He pointed the pen at her face. “That’s a cop-out.”

“My summer bucket list,” she quipped. Before Kevin could quip back, she cut him off. “You seriously telling me that all the work we’re doing to start this bakery can’t count?”

He huffed. “Fine, but no more work stuff on this list. Number two.”

She tapped her finger to her lips, glancing at the glass display case and thinking of all the treats that would soon fill those pristine-looking shelves. “Take a professional baking class.”

“I said no work stuff!”

“That’s not work stuff, that’s fun stuff,” she answered, pointing to the paper. “Write it down, boss.”

He smiled, his teeth gleaming as he shook his head, scribbling it down. “Yes, ma’am.”

Jess felt an unfamiliar tightening in her chest at his yes, ma’am. She watched the way his mouth twitched as he wrote. She tore her lingering gaze away before he could notice, then paced back and forth about what else she really wanted to do.

Her mind went to the vacation she’d miss out on this summer, how she would never go to the Cape with Charlie again. But that also meant she would…never have to go to the Cape ever again. She was free to go wherever she wanted. Charlie’s idea of a vacation was visiting a carbon copy of their hometown. Now? She was free to vacation however she pleased.

And buy whatever she pleased. And spend her time how she pleased.

Her mind began racing with the possibilities.

“I want to go camping,” she said. “Not backpacking, just camping. Somewhere far from here, out in the woods. Maybe Maine or New Hampshire.”

“Or Vermont,” Kevin said, winking at her before he looked back down at his paper. “Love it. Writing it down.”

“I want to go to a grungy underground rock concert,” she added, the ideas now spilling out of her. “And the location has to be extra sketchy. I want my shoes to stick to the floors from spilled beer and god knows what else, and for there to always be the possibility of someone getting punched in the face.”

“How…oddly specific. I dig it.”

“I want to watch all of The Lord of the Rings movies in a single sitting—the extended versions. Charlie hated those movies and I haven’t had the chance to rewatch them since high school. I want to drink gross energy drinks to stay awake and eat lots of popcorn and end the marathon with the sun rising and feeling utterly sick to my stomach from junk food.”

“An absolute rager with Frodo and Samwise. I’m in.”

Jess whipped around from where she was pacing to face him. “You’d really watch all three of them with me? That’s a twelve-hour commitment.”

“Jessica, if you’re doing it, I’m doing it.”

Her chest tightened again. She rubbed at it as she turned away, hoping it would ease the feeling as she brainstormed the rest of her list. “I need new jeans. I’d like to find the perfect pair.”

“Oh now see, I draw the line at shopping.” He said it with such a straight face.

Her shoulders sagged. “Really?”

For a beat, he was silent. But then he smirked, and she realized he was toying with her. She reached over and shoved his shoulder as he laughed.

“Jessica, we will find you the pair of jeans,” he said, writing it down. “Where you go, I go.”

She crossed her arms, deciding it was time to start playing with him. “If that’s the case, then I also want to go skinny dipping.”

She relished the way his cheeks turned pink, his eyes widening.

“Where you go, I go, right? Looks like you’ll have to hop into the Long Island Sound butt naked.”