Page 60 of Love Is…?

She said she wanted to go out like a regular person to a regular place and do regular things.

And that’s bowling?

Apparently. Are you coming?

Grace didn’t give many options.

Tessa’s laughingemoji made Jayde smile.

The bouncing dots continued.

Come over if you’re not busy right now. Sam and I are making Grace’s birthday cake.

Jayde stared at the message.

Why aren’t Abby and Sam ordering a cake from a bakery like normal people?

Being regular, remember? Grace is Grace.

Okay. I can’t bake so I’ll be nothing more than a decoration.

I like looking at decorations.

Jayde staredat that message as well. Flirty. Holding potential. This whole situation was maddening.

“I wish I’d never suggested this challenge-teaching-whatever-it-is thing. It would have saved so much angst.”

She grabbed her bag, checked her wallet and Metro card, then sent Tessa a reply.

I’ll see you in an hour.

Chapter

Thirteen

Tessa had analysedthe kiss outside Jayde’s place from every possible angle, under every possible microscope, within an inch of Jayde’s beautiful lips. She came up with the same result; she wanted to kiss Jayde until she was boneless. Until she herself was boneless. Both of them. Boneless.

Which went against everything that she’d said to Jayde two weeks ago against her car. It had felt stomach-clenchingly awful to pull back. Tessa was positive that she’d read something similar like Jayde wanted the lessons to involve Tessa, and not some other woman. That was a big assumption but Tessa had rolled it over in her head that night, turning the assumption into a fact, and so the fact poked annoyingly at her mind for the next two weeks. She felt apprehensive—turned on—but mostly apprehensive. Jayde had spent too many years pleasuring women for a night. Maybe two nights. Then leaving. That was her road.

But wasn’t the point of these dates to swap roads? Learn to navigate each other’s viewpoints. In Tessa’s case, relearn. Jayde’s years of experience were bound to help, and Angel had said that there was no way lightning could strike three times, four times if she counted Olna’s derision of Tessa’s very vanillatastes, so surely it was safe to try again. Having Jayde there as a safety net was reassuring, right?

Therefore, light and breezy, fun and flirty had been the tone in their communication since then, even though it felt like a little wall had been erected, which made her sad.

Meanwhile, cake.

Sam was her normal effusive self, grabbing bowls of various sizes, and cooking utensils from the enormous soft-close drawers. Everything contained in the kitchen was modern, expensive, and practical. A perfect blend of Abby and Sam.

“Right. Soooo, making a cake from scratch.” Sam squinted at the recipe on the iPad, her hands on her hips. Tessa, enjoying the irreverence of the dancing cats on her apron, stood to the side of the tornado that was Sam Markson, and shared a grin with Jayde, who had plonked herself on a stool as soon as she’d arrived, declaring herself a hazard if she helped. Theo wriggled himself under her stool, having adopted Jayde as his favourite person ever.

Their grins faded to soft smiles, exactly as they’d done when Jayde had arrived. Gazes had roamed across faces, torsos and back again. Just like now. Tessa took in Jayde’s short ponytail, which contained her windblown hair and shaped it into something less weather related. The freckles danced across the tops of Jayde’s cheeks and nose, and Tessa had to restrain herself from reaching across to run her fingers over every single one. Apparently, this was pulling back, and she rolled her eyes at herself, wrenched her gaze away, and turned to Sam.

“Are we good to go?”

Sam screwed up her lips, then jabbed her finger at the screen. “This is my punishment for falling in love with the most wonderful woman in the world who happens to be the mother of the coolest kiddo ever.”

“Love is bothersome baking?” Jayde flicked her palms up in question.

Tessa burst into giggles, her eyes twinkling at Jayde who winked in return. “I dare you to write that into Sam’s part of the profile,” Tessa said cheekily, and Sam pointed at Tessa.

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