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Jasper swallowed and looked at her dark house, then looked at her, illuminated by the distant porch light which was casting a soft amber glow over them. ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea just yet.’
‘It’s just tea, Jasper.’
‘You and I both know that’s not the case, Jen. Sure, we might drink tea but then things would escalate and end up leading us in a direction I don’t think either of us is ready for just yet.’
She pulled back to look at him, raising her eyebrows. ‘You’re very sure of yourself.’
He grinned. ‘I’m sure of where we both know this will eventually end…one day.’
‘But not tonight,’ she stated.
‘No. Not tonight. However, things have changed, Jen. You know that, right?’
‘I do. Things have changed, Jasper, and you have no idea how happy I am about that. What I also need, though, is time to process this change.’
‘Agreed.’ He brushed his lips across hers once more. ‘I’ll see you at Sara’s barbecue tomorrow?’
‘Yes. You and me with, no doubt, quite a few pairs of eyes watching us to see how we behave.’
‘We’ll have to be careful. Not that I’m suggesting we hide from this.’
‘No. I understand. We need to be careful. There are other people involved in this and perhaps keeping things to ourselves is the best option for now.’
‘For now.’ With great reluctance Jasper let her go, holding her hand as he walked slowly backwards until he couldn’t hold on any more. ‘For now,’ he reiterated, before disappearing into the night.
Jennifer rang the doorbell a second time, gripping the shopping bags tightly so she didn’t drop them. ‘Come on, come on,’ she muttered. It would be too much effort to put the bags down, open the door and pick the bags up again but it appeared, as no one was coming to answer the door, that that was exactly what she had to do.
‘Coming!’ she heard, and in the next instant Sara’s front door was thrown open and Jasper stood there, looking gorgeous in dark denim jeans, which had long since forgotten any shape but his, and a thick Aran jumper. He looked…delicious and for a split second Jennifer’s mind went blank.
They both stood there, staring at each other, Jasper shaken because Jennifer’s hair wasn’t pulled back in its usual severe bun. It was still back but she’d pulled it loosely into a ponytail and the ends of her dark hair were currently hanging over one shoulder, a few strands coming loose here and there. Her cheeks were pink from the cool breeze and her eyes were bright and glorious. She was beautiful. It was only when she shifted a shopping bag that he snapped out of his trance and offered his help.
‘Here. Let me take them from you.’ He started forward, which was enough to bring her back to reality. She gripped the bags tighter.
‘I’ve got them. If I let go, I might end up dropping them.’
He shifted back to make way for her and she quickly headed into the kitchen, dumping the bags on the bench. ‘I was wondering where you were,’ Jasper commented as Jennifer began unpacking the items.
‘Sara had run out of a few things.’ She held up a large bottle of tomato sauce to prove her point.
‘A key item,’ he agreed. ‘How can you have a barbecue without tomato sauce, especially in Australia?’
‘Hence why I went to the shops. Sara’s boys go through the sauce like it’s a drink.’
‘It is an Aussie staple.’
‘True.’
They worked alongside each other, Jasper taking the items from the bags and Jennifer putting them away or out where they needed to be.
‘You look nice,’ he remarked as she closed the fridge door.
‘Oh?’ Jennifer stopped and looked down. It was then she realised she was still wearing her scarf and coat. ‘No wonder I was so warm.’ She unwound her scarf and was pleasantly surprised when Jasper helped her off with her coat. It reminded her of her first morning at work when he’d helped her on with her white clinical coat. Why did it seem so long ago? He carefully put her garments over the back of a nearby chair and looked at her again.
‘I like your hair.’
Consciously, Jennifer raised a hand to her hair and twirled her ponytail through her fingers.
He swallowed over the sudden dryness of his throat. Was he allowed to say things like that to her? He wasn’t quite sure where they stood in that department but he simply hadn’t been able to stop himself from commenting. ‘It’s…uh…longer than I thought.’ As well as being more rich and glorious than he’d imagined. The pale pink cashmere jumper she wore only made the blue of her eyes more vivid. The indigo of her jeans and the black boots with the small heel topped off her outfit and Jasper’s mouth became even drier as he allowed himself one more appraisal of her gorgeous body.
