Juniper puts her hands on her hips and pouts. Then her expression shifts into something more playful as she says, “Well, there is just something about a triangle which can be very—” She cracks up. “Bah! I’ve got nothin’!”
I laugh too. “You tried!”
She blushes. “I did.”
“There are three sides to every story … every slice?” I say then shake my head abruptly. “Nope. Nope. We killed it.” I giggle some more.
Juniper rolls her eyes. “Ethan was right, innuendos are not my forte.”
As if his ears were burning, Ethan waltzes in. “What was I right about?” he asks, a glint of mischief in his eyes.
We laugh and wave him off.
“Hey, it’s not often I actually get to be right,” he insists.
“Oh, that’s not true.” I walk over to him and reach up to ruffle his scruffy half-flattened trapper hat hair. “You get things right all the time”—I smile up at him sweetly—“after I’ve told you exactly what to do.”
He sighs, bending to kiss the top of my head. “Oh, you,” he all but growls in my ear, and my heart flutters some more.
“Aha!” Juniper grabs a gold tin from the back of the cupboard and scrutinises the label. Her gaze follows the words, and her expression morphs from one of delight to disgust. “Black forest and dark chocolate … tea?” She grimaces, and we giggle at her obvious horror.
I sigh. “No hot chocolate for us then.”
“Wait!” Ethan says.
He rushes off, and Juniper and I look at each other quizzically before she shoves the tin back in the cupboard—way, way back.
“You have this?” Ethan holds up the block ofCadburyDairy MilkI smuggled here from home. The sight of its perfect purple wrapper alone is enough to make me salivate like one of Pavlov’s dogs.
“You, sir”—I march over to him and pluck the chocolate from his grasp—“are a genius!”
Ethan grins like the cat who’s got the cream—or, rather, the man who’s just made his wife’s day.
I take it straight over to Juniper. “Have you ever had good chocolate?” I ask with a cheeky grin.
She huffs but easily returns my smile. “You English are such snobs about your chocolate!”
“Only because your chocolate sucks,” I say matter-of-factly. I crouch to retrieve a small pan from beneath the sink. “Can yougrab the milk, please?” I ask, and she does so with another eye roll.
“Your majesty.” She hands me the carton, and I chuckle.
“I think I’m gonna go check on the fire.” Ethan hitches a thumb over his shoulder then scoots out of the room with a wink, leaving us to it.
I warm the milk on the stove then snap off a row of deliciousCadbury’s milk chocolate. Only the very best. I pop a few squares into the pan and continue stirring. Then I snap the next row and do the same again, only I save the last square, holding it out for Juniper to try.
“Close your eyes,” I command, and Juniper walks over to me and does so, her mouth slightly open, waiting. I pop the square into her mouth and watch as her face lights up.
She nods. “Mhmmm.” She nods some more then swallows. “That is good stuff.”
I turn back to my pan with a satisfied smile. “You don’t say.”
As the milk turns from white to a rich brown, I take the pan off the heat and set it aside to find clean mugs.
“Looks good.”
I turn to find Juniper right in front of me, a stunning smile on her face and a single square of chocolate pinched between her thumb and forefinger.
“Now closeyoureyes,” she says, and my god, the way she says it, and the way she’s looking at me right now— Fuck.
