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She snorted and optimism snuck back into his soul.
“You know, this kind of reminds me of the Thanksgiving we spent together. They all came down with the flu, so you and I made the turkey dinner and were meals on wheels for the entire family, driving to everyone’s house delivering dinner.”
“Yeah, except they were all puking and shitting like crazy, not high as fucking kites.”
“Potato, poh-tah-to?”
She snorted again, but this time he was sure there was a smile there, too. “Sure.”
“So where are you working these days?”
She dropped the carving knife with a clatter to the granite counter and turned to face him. “I know what you’re trying to do and it’s not going to work.”
“What am I trying to do?Talkto you? Engage in pleasant conversation with a person I happen to like? A person I haven’t seen in ages? A person I care deeply about?”A person I love.
“See, right there.”
“Right where, what?”
“That.”
“What?”
She picked up the carving knife and waved it around in the air. “All that. All that… charm. You’re wearing the shirt I bought you, a knit cap, and my favorite cologne. I know what you’re trying to do.”
“I’m not allowed to be charming?”
“No!” She shook her head. “Not when I know that within that charm lies an ulterior motive.”
“Which is?”
“To win me back.”
“Guilty.”
She let out a growl of exasperation and turned back to where she was carving the turkey. Joy typically carved the turkey early, then put foil over it, only to reheat it right before they ate. It gave them room and time for other things to go into the oven.
“Just because you smell good enough to eat does not mean I’m going to abandon my resolve and drop to my knees. And just because you’re wearing my favorite shirt on you, does not mean we get to relive the glory days of the lost hiker and the grumpy lumberjack. I do notneeda big branch from your pants, thank you. You do not get to spank my ass red with a cedar bough.”
He tried so fucking hard not to smile, but when she challenged him like that, bantered with him like the old days, it was impossible. Plus, the memory of spanking her ass with a cedar bough conjured all kinds of fun memories and his dick was perking up at the thought of getting to do those things again.
But he needed to tread lightly. He was playing the long game with Rayma and didn’t want to piss her offtoomuch. “Ulterior motive aside, can we at least have a civil conversation? I’d like to know about your life over the last few years and what you’ve gotten up to. Obviously, you graduated and are now working as a social worker. That’s amazing. I’m so proud of you.”
“Jordan—”
“And is your friend from the other night a social worker, too?” He wasn’t going to let her shut him out. She needed to know that no matter what, he was going to fight for them. He knew they were meant to be. Knew that he’d fucked up and deserved her ire, but he also knew that he would do everything he possibly could to prove to her that he wasn’t going to make the same mistake twice. He’d let her go once, and he wasn’t foolish enough to do it again.
Rayma grumbled. “Yes. I work for the ministry. Peyton works for a private corporation.”
“And how are your sisters?”
“Well, Pasha’s high as fuck.”
He chuckled.
“Oona’s in Montreal still working her ass off, Mieka’s on a cruise ship dancing and getting boned by first officers, and Triss is dating some chef in Connecticut. I don’t really like him, but she seems happy, so whatever.”
“And your parents?”
