last night before bed.”
With a hand on his lower back, I angled him out of the pen and back toward the house. Once we entered the living room, Parrish turned and pressed a kiss against my cheek. His lips stayed against my skin for several long beats before he pulled away and pretended to fuss over Marigold’s basket of toys.
“What…” My voice broke so I tried again. “What was that for?”
He didn’t turn to look at me. “Oh, you know. Just… we should probably, um, act like fiancés more. Get used to it so it doesn’t seem awkward.”
“That definitely didn’t feel awkward,” I said, holding a hand up to my cheek as if I could keep the ghost of his lips pressed there forever.
“Besides, I think the way you take care of those chickens is really nice, Diesel.”
I couldn’t see his face, but I could see the crimson edges of his ears, and they were damned adorable. “Thank you,” I said gruffly. “I’m going to get started on dinner.”
Jesus.
It was ridiculous how awkward I acted around him sometimes. I looked back on my effortless flirtation with him the first day he was here and wondered where I’d taken a wrong turn. But the truth was, the more time I spent with him, the more I purely liked him. And while he was maybe the easiest man I’d ever met to be myself with… I also didn’t want to do anything that might inadvertently send him packing precisely because I liked him so much. More than I’d ever liked anyone in my life, besides my aunts.
In short, I’d caught myself in a neat little trap.
I turned on some music at a low volume and pulled out the old dutch oven pot, pouring some olive oil in it before moving over to chop an onion and some garlic. Parrish sat on the rag rug nearby and played with Marigold. Suddenly, I was in the middle of the kind of domestic scene I’d never in a million years envisioned for myself.
It was better than I’d ever imagined, and I couldn’t decide which part of it was hurting my heart. Was it the fact that Marigold wouldn’t grow up in a two-parent household like this or the fact that I hadn’t? I felt a tightness in the back of my throat and tried to stop thinking about it.
“Tell me about work,” I said, hoping to get my mind away from going in this dangerous direction. “How are things going with the new restaurant?”
Parrish’s face lit up. “Great! You should come by and see all the work Mal has done on the furnishings. It looks amazing. And the manager we hired is already doing a great job pre-screening employees. The contractor—do you know Gil Hammersmith?—he’s been amazing.”
As he continued to tell me about the progress they’d made, I pictured the handsome, successful contractor. I’d seen his ass on Grindr—literally—and knew that he would love nothing more than to get sweet Parrish naked.
“Be careful with Gil,” I grunted, taking out my frustration on the tomatoes with my cleaver.
Parrish’s eyes blinked up at me. “Really? Why?”
“He’s gay,” I said, as if that explained everything.
Parrish bit his bottom lip against a smile. Dammit, the man was irresistible.
“Diesel?” he asked, standing up and moving Marigold into the stand-up exerciser thingy Ava had suggested I pick up. She’d been right. The thing had been a lifesaver already. I could haul it outside and jail the little troublemaker in it while I did some of my chores. Marigold loved every minute of it too. The tray had all kinds of bits and pieces to keep her entertained.
“Huh?” I tossed the tomato chunks into the pot after the onions looked ready enough to share the pot.
I felt the heat of Parrish’s body behind mine. The man was sneaky. I closed my eyes and reminded myself this wasn’t real.
“I know Gil is gay,” he said softly. “Because he hasn’t stopped flirting with me since the day we met.”
I whipped around, almost knocking the poor man over. “That’s unprofessional! He should know better. That’s… that’s considered a hostile working environment!”
He bit his lip again, and I wanted to reach out and pluck it back to safety. With my mouth.
Parrish’s hands came up to my chest and brushed a piece of papery garlic skin off my shirt. I had to hold back a groan of disappointment that he wasn’t reaching out to caress me for any other reason. He was standing so close, I couldn’t