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“We ate a late lunch at the diner.” He grinned. “Ms. Hampshire set these aside for me.”
Given the time, it was closer to an early dinner, but that wouldn’t spare me from feeding him later.
“They’re from yesterday.” I stuck my tongue out at him. “She probably couldn’t sell them.”
That was a lie, and we both knew it. Ms. Hampshire didn’t bake often, but she was fantastic at cookies.
“Jealous I sampled another woman’s cookies?” He clucked his tongue. “That’s beneath you.”
“Give me a cookie,” I bargained, “and I’ll take it back.”
“Ha.” He crammed another one in his mouth. “I’m rubber, you’re glue—”
“—I’ll bounce my fist off your face if you don’t give me a cookie.”
“That doesn’t even rhyme.” He ate a third. “Try again.”
“Clay, you had a dozen.” Asa trained his gaze on the rearview mirror. “You can’t spare one?”
“Nope.” He frowned at Aedan. “What’s the daemon doing here?” He snorted. “You building a harem?”
A low growl poured from the driver’s seat, and Aedan flattened his spine against the door.
The threat of the daemon bursting from his skin was very real, and I could strangle Clay for putting us in this position in such a confined space. “I am never baking for you again.”
“I was joking.” Clay hit me between the eyes with a cookie. “Slobber on that and calm him down.”
A snort burst out of Aedan that no one believed was the coughing fit he faked afterward.
Chomping down on the cookie, I resolved to beg, borrow, or bribe my way to this recipe.
“Take a bite.” I held it an inch from Asa’s lips. “You know you wanna.”
As soon as I said it, I had an epiphany that kissing Asa would be that much more intimate than us sharing food. That part wasn’t the revelation. The curiosity sparked from wondering if the same instincts that drove us to eat after one another would prompt us to exchange saliva more often to get that same dopamine hit.
And I really had to stop obsessing over kissing Asa to the point where I daydreamed about saliva…
The rumble of sound quit, and he sank his teeth into the soft treat, his eyes on mine the whole time.
“This is a good cookie,” he said, once he finished chewing, “but it’s not as good as yours.”
Pleased warmth suffused me, and I didn’t care if my drool made the cookie more delicious to him or not. It was sweet of him to side with me against Clay, who deserved a swift kick in the pants for being a sugar hog.
Little wonder he and Colby were thick as thieves.
“Since Clay is dead to me, you get to pick tonight’s dessert.” I nibbled the edge. “Here.”
Feeding Asa worked wonders on his temper, which, same. And now it was time to focus on the problem.
“Where are we going?” I recognized the area, but it was pastureland. “Did you find the nest?”
I left the question open for either guy who wanted to answer.
“No.” Clay grew serious. “We found confirmation the mamma didn’t get here under her own steam.”
A minute later, Asa pulled the SUV onto the shoulder of the road and parked.
“This is where we get dirty.” He eyed my tidy outfit from work. “I can carry you, if you like.”
