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“Pantry.”
He emerged from the fridge, and his eyes alighted on the knit hat in her hand. “What’s that?”
“I knit you a hat,” she said, holding it out to him.
“You made this?” Admiration glowed on his face as he turned it over in his hands.
She took the hat from him and pulled it down over his head, tucking his hair back, off his forehead. She was right—the gray yarn did look good with his eyes.
He bent down and kissed her. “Thank you for making me a hat.”
“You don’t have to wear it if you don’t like it.”
“Are you kidding? I love it. I’m going to wear it every day.”
“You definitely don’t have to wear it every day.”
“Nope, my girlfriend made me a hat. I’m never taking it off.” The word girlfriend caused her stomach to drop as he turned back to his bowl of batter. “How many pancakes do you want?”
She recovered quickly. “Will you think poorly of me if I say four?”
He grinned at her as he poured a scoop of batter into the pan. “Nope.”
“Then I want five.”
Laughing, he reached for the spatula. “Coming right up.”
It was almost too much to bear, how much she loved him, how she’d never stood a chance without him. The words spilled out of her before she’d made a conscious choice to say them: “I love you.”
The hand holding the spatula stilled. “Because I made you pancakes?”
“No. I mean, I also love that you made me pancakes—but no. I love you with or without pancakes.”
The eyes he turned toward her were bright and shining. “You love me?”
“I do,” Esther said, feeling a weight lift off her shoulders. “I love you. I’ve loved you for a while, but I was too scared to say it.”
Jonathan set down the spatula and pulled her into his arms. “You shouldn’t have to be scared to tell someone you love them.”
“Yes, but you see, the thing you don’t know about me is that I’m pretty broken.”
His nose rubbed against hers. “Believe it or not, I’d actually figured that out already.”
“To be honest, you may want to reconsider getting involved with me. You don’t know me all that well yet, and I’m not sure you realize exactly how—”
“I love you too,” he said.
A starburst of affection exploded in her chest, and her face split into a grin. “Well, you’re screwed now.”
“God, I hope so.” His hands tightened on her ass, and he hiked her up onto his hips.
She laughed, feeling dizzy as he spun her around and plopped her onto the counter, sending measuring cups flying.
“I love all your broken pieces,” he said. “I love everything about you. I even love the way you argue with me.”
“You realize telling me that is going to backfire on you big time, right?”
He locked eyes with her, running his hands up the outside of her thighs. “I love how opinionated you are, and that you act like you’re not afraid of anything when on the inside you’re afraid of everything. I love the frowny face you make when you’re bossing me around. I love how much you care about your friends, and the way you try to take care of them. I love you, Esther Abbott, every bonkers bit of you, and I want to take care of you the way you take care of everyone else.”
