“Eat more, little beta,” he prompted. “You need to eat.”
His orders were so different to Logan’s that I was helpless to resist them, so I didn’t.
Honestly,having Jasper around was so helpful I was about to consider keeping him. We got the mess cleared away and the shop straightened up for tomorrow and now he was putting stickers on books like a champ, having worked out the shelving process pretty damn quickly. He moved around the shop, breezing through jobs I’d been avoiding, and I found myself just watching him. He caught me at it too, shooting me a sidelong look then smiling to himself as he kept on going. But finally, the day ended, and I locked up the shop, turning off the lights and getting ready to go.
“So, did you have a car nearby?” I asked, feeling slightly weird saying it.
He shook his head. “I got Ben to drop me off.”
“Oh, well, I could give you a lift—”
“I thought I could come home with you,” he said in that same low buzz of a voice, stepping into my space as I hovered in the doorway, reminding me he was so much more than just some assistant. “We’re both going to Sophie’s BBQ?”
“Ah, yeah. But don’t you want to—?”
“I thought I’d run you a hot bath, let you have a soak while I made you yet more bloody coffee and then you could perform whatever witchcraft you women work when you get ready, emerging smelling like heaven and flowers.”
I shivered when he ran his fingers down my arm, just a brief brush along the sleeve, yet somehow it felt like I could feel every bit.
“Then we could go to the BBQ, together.”
Like this was a date. Like he was my boyfriend, my plus one. Like I had someone at my side to attend a social event. I just stared at him, hypnotised by those glittering silver eyes, and then found myself nodding.
“Perfect,” he said with a grin. “Where are we parked?”
He wouldn’t letme walk on the left-hand side of the footpath, the one closest to traffic, something that had me spluttering, but that stopped when he took my hand. It was a comfort, pure and simple, and right now I was open to it. But when he got in my car, it felt too small, his massive frame barely fitting in the front seat, and he had to slide it right back to get his legs in. My focus was thoroughly split, not something I needed on the drive back home through peak hour, but somehow we made it. Then he was there at my back as I opened the door, steering me towards the bathroom when we got inside.
“How did you know…?”
“It smells of perfume, soap and you in here,” he said, moving over to the bath before finding the plug and starting to fill it. I watched him begin to open cupboards and the medicine cabinet, while I stood there completely confused. “Where are all your lotions and potions?”
“What?”
He glanced over his shoulder.
“All those smelly girl things women seem to have. The ones that fizz and the ones that create bubbles.”
I cackled at that, coming back to myself a little more. “I never have time for bath bombs. Evie is a water baby and hogs the bath right up until bedtime, then I just collapse in front of the TV.”
He tutted at that, then sniffed at a big bottle of body wash, squirting some of that into the water. When it started to foam up, producing bubbles and filling the room with a limey scent, he seemed satisfied, testing the temperature of the water before tweaking it slightly. Then when he was finished, he walked towards the door, wiping his hands on a towel.
“I’ll make you a coffee,” he said. “Can I convince you to drink decaf?”
“Only if you want your throat slit in a dark sacrificial rite to the Devil himself,” I growled.
“Caffeine addict. Got it. Well, see if you can loosen up in the bath for a bit. I’ll bring it in shortly.”
“In the bath?” I glanced at the bubbly water. “I’ll be naked.”
“Well, I hope so,” he said with a grin. “That’s what the bubbles are for. They’re fun, smell nice and you’ll be able to control what I can see.”
And with that he walked out, leaving me just staring after him.
I was faced with three options now. Resist the lovely hot bath and just slug down the coffee, then spray myself hard with deodorant, as I’d planned. Get in the bath and arrange all those bubbles strategically. Dilly-dally in here and Jasper would walk in on me halfway through getting into the water. Decisions, decisions. I ended up tossing off my clothes and diving into the hot depths with minutes to spare before Jasper reappeared.
He scanned my foam swaddled form as he entered the room, as if somehow those moonlit eyes of his could pierce the bubbles. But he handed me the coffee, then sat down at the end of bath, perching his butt on the lip.
“What…?” I asked as his hand dove in, grabbing my foot and hauling it out.