Page 84 of Stolen Kiss

“On what?”

“Your choice of cake.”

Jason had asked her every day for a month which cake she liked and the more he asked the more she didn’t know what to say.

“I want that one, so I can drag my finger through the frosting,” she said licking her lips.

They were in Edward Hall kitchens and Jason was decorating the wedding cake for Remi.

“Stay away from this cake. It’s only a couple of weeks away and I do not want anything to happen to it.”

Jason gave her a warning glare, but there was no heat. It was the same glare he gave her when she came to his bed in PJs. He would remove them before wrapping her in his arms. She did it deliberately now because she liked him stripping her and tossing the clothes over the side of the bed. It was cold on top the cliff but in his arms she felt his warmth and his love. She cleared her throat and his head shot up.

“What?” Jason said, ending his spinning and whipping.

“There is something I need to tell you.”

Jason’s eyes dropped to her stomach and then shot back up to her eyes.

She smiled wide. There was no fear in his eyes that she may be pregnant.

“No, not that,” she answered still smiling.

“Okay, but before you tell me whatever it is, you’re going to say. Can you please tell me which cake you like? We’ve narrowed it down to frosting and a cupcake. Which flavour?”

Heidi sighed not knowing why he wouldn’t give up asking her so she blurted the first flavour she thought about.

“Lemon,” she said.

“Thank fuck. Right, now you may carry on,” he said tossing the palette knife into the soapy water.

“I love you,” she said.

She’d never said it and it had been playing on her mind. The longer she left it the more it stuck in her throat. But Keith had come to her in tears the other day, telling her how sorry he was for wasting time between Jason and her. Heidi vowed that she would tell Jason she loved him and hoped that he didn’t mind that she wouldn’t say it very often. She was more of an action girl. He’d never pushed her, never waited or paused after he told her he loved her which was every day.

Jason came around the work bench fast. They were alone in the kitchens because it was a Saturday evening and they would have to be at Archer and Erica’s early Christmas drinks party.

He came right into her space as she sat on the counter opposite where he was working. He parted her knees and stood in that space.

“I know,” he said.

“You know?”

“Yeah, but it’s always good to hear it.”

“How do you know?”

“Because you show me. I’ve never had a home that felt homely and you’ve made the cottage feel so warm and welcoming I never want to leave it.”

“I’m sorry I never say it.”

“You never have to say it again. But you must always show it. The way you pinch my toes as you pass the sofa, the way you curl your hand around my neck when I’m driving the buggy. There are a hundred different ways you show me you love me. But it’s always good to hear it.”

“I love you,” she said again.

He kissed her, pushing her back on the counter and following her down. She wanted him to strip her right there but somewhere in Edward Hall there were workmen doing the finishing touches to the bedrooms and stairwells. He brought her back to sitting and then stepped back.

“I have to get this cake in the walk-in fridge, but what I really want to do is test out one of the beds upstairs.”

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