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He studies me before finally saying, “You need to finish these cupcakes and then get dressed. I’m taking you out for the day.”
My brows pull together. “Where? Why? I thought you were working today.”
“It can wait.”
“Your work can never wait.” It’s true. This man is always working. More than me. And I thought I worked a lot.
His trademark impatience makes an appearance. “Do we need a discussion every damn time we plan something?”
“Don’t you snap at me. I’m just trying to figure out where you’re going with this. And yes, I like to be involved in making plans.”
“I need to do some Christmas shopping. You can help me.”
“You do your own Christmas shopping?” I’d have taken Jameson for being the kind of man to have Shantel shop for him.
“For my mother and brother, yes.” He reaches for a cupcake. “I’ll be ready to leave in an hour.”
I let him take the cupcake. It turns out Jameson has a sweet tooth and I’ve decided I like him eating what I bake. He devoured most of the cupcakes I made last week and a lot of the lemon cake I baked late Tuesday night after we arrived home from Taco Tuesday with his family.
As he leaves the kitchen, I call out, “Just so you know, telling me you’ll be ready to leave in an hour does not mean I’ll automatically be ready to leave in an hour.”
Honestly, that man needs someone like me to teach him how to exist in the world. One day, the woman he marries for real will thank me.
17
Jameson
I’m unsure what possessed me to bring Adeline shopping. What I assumed would be a simple trip to choose two gifts has turned into a fucking huge undertaking. Thank Christ I’ve already bought Bill’s gift. If not, we’d be here for another two hours while she ensured I bought an assortment of gifts he doesn’t need like she’s done for my mother and brother.
“What about this tie?” she asks, holding a navy tie up for me to inspect. “I think Hudson would look good in this one.”
“A tie is a fucking tie. It’s perfect.” I take it from her and add it to the collection of gifts she’s accumulated while we’ve spent hours walking through this mall. Even my security team whose faces always remain blank masks appear exasperated with this expedition.
“A tie isnota tie.” She looks horrified by that statement. “Do you need me to explain the intricacies of ties to you?”
“Fuck, no.”
She reaches for the navy tie, frowning as she glances between it and another one on display. “I don’t know. I think maybe this red one might be better.”
I grab the red one, the navy one, the black one, and the fucking dark green one. “We’ll take all of them.”
Her eyes come to mine. She’s less than impressed with me. “Why are you being difficult about this?”
“I’m not.”
“You are.”
“Jesus,” I mutter. “I needed two gifts.Two. And here we are with more than twenty things. I’m not the one making this trip difficult.”
Her eyes widen. “You thinkI’mmaking it difficult?”
“No, I don’t think it, I fucking know it.”
I catch sight of people stopping to watch us argue, and I note their phones capturing all of this. As Adeline opens her mouth to continue arguing, I pull her to me and bring my lips to hers, silencing and kissing her all at once.
Her gasp of surprise is followed by that sound that tells me just how much she likes my mouth on hers. And instead of trying to keep me away like she does whenever I kiss her, she grips my shirt and pulls me closer, devoting herself to the kiss.
When I end it, she keeps hold of my shirt and gives me more of her attention in a way I fucking like. “Kissing me in the middle of an argument will not make me forget what we were discussing.”
