They were so tiny.
‘Of course.’ She smiled. ‘You’re welcome to try a sample.’
‘Thank you.’ Jade beamed. Back home she’d never be allowed to eat market food without it being tested first. She’d only ever been offered pre-selected, triple-checked tastes. Here she could try anything she wanted to. And she did.
‘They’re so perfect, they must have taken so long to make,’ Jade marvelled.
Those very particular edible presentations on tour were always fine and fancy, but the intricate piping on these tiny structures utterly amazed her.
‘Could we take some of the houses to Ellen?’ She turned to Alvaro when he walked back to where she’d lingered. ‘For her Christmas dinner?’
‘Sure, that’d be nice.’
The stallholder delightedly boxed up a dozen. Ten minutes later Alvaro carefully stowed them in the trunk of the car and then slammed it shut.
‘Which did you prefer, by the way?’ he turned to her to ask. ‘The sweet dough balls or the fudge?’
‘They were both delicious,’ Jade answered.
Laughter lit his eyes and he shook his head. ‘No. You can have only one. You have to choose.’
‘Why do I have to choose?’ She smiled. ‘They were both amazing.’
His eyebrows lifted. ‘Why is it so hard to pick a favourite? You must have an opinion on them.’
‘Well, I don’t.’ She shrugged.
‘Don’t or won’t?’ The gleam in his eye was sharper now, not as amused. ‘You’re allowed your own opinion, Jade.’
‘I am.’ She nodded. ‘But I’m also aware that I can’t share it much.’
‘Pardon?’
‘Look,’ she huffed. ‘I know this might sound arrogant, but I have influence. And with that comes responsibility. I can’t be seen to endorse one product over another. So I don’t choose. I never choose.’
Alvaro theatrically glanced up and then down the path. ‘Jade, I’m not sure if you’ve realised, but we’re currently alone. No one is paying any attention to us. There are no cameras, and no one around for you to influence, other than me. And I won’t be overly swayed by your opinion, I’m confident in my own tastes and desires.’
Her lips twisted. ‘I’m aware of that.’
Truthfully, she was still getting used to the fact that there were no cameras on her when she went out. It wasn’t normal not to have them. It had been drilled into her all her life—that any moment could and probably would be caught on camera. Remembering that horrible fact stopped her from doing things she shouldn’t. Like challenging him to kiss her right now.
‘You truly won’t say which you prefer?’ he asked.
‘It’s how I’ve been trained.’
His eyebrows shot up. ‘So do you say you just like everything?’
‘I can find something positive in everything,’ she replied.
‘Wow. So even if you hate something, you’ll find something about it to bestow your approval on?’
She glared at him as her annoyance grew. ‘You make it sound as if that’s a bad thing.’
‘It is. It’s dishonest.’
‘No, it’s not. It’s just...judicious. It’s being kind.’
‘Kind?’ he scoffed. ‘It’s cowardly. You have to be able to admit when you don’t like something. You have to have that freedom. That choice. Otherwise you just end up...bland. And in the end no one can trust a word that emerges from your mouth.’
She was suddenly hurt. ‘I don’t lie.’
He straightened up from the car and stepped closer. ‘But you don’t fully express yourself either.’
Horrible, hot resentment built within her at his judgment. Because she had with him. She had been so honest, so vulnerable, so exposed. And he knew it.
‘I dare you to say what you like.’ He stood right in front of her, his whisky-amber eyes hot and hard as if he were even angrier than she. Impossible.
‘Tell me what you like,’ he said. ‘Tell me one thing you absolutely love and can’t get enough of. That you’d do every day if you could.’
There was fire in her hurt and fury now. But she wasn’t being provoked into saying something she knew he wanted her to admit.
‘What do you want, Jade?’ he pushed. ‘Tell me one thing you really want.’ Passion now burned in his eyes as well. ‘You’re allowed to say. You don’t need my or anyone else’s permission. Why is it so hard? You did with me once already.’
‘That was different,’ she muttered through clenched teeth.
‘How?’
‘Because it was once. Once. One night.’ She didn’t want to say it again. She didn’t want to let him have that victory. But then it wouldn’t be only his win, would it? It would be hers too.
So she stepped closer, unable to ignore the craving any more. ‘I want you to