Page 51 of Inked Persuasion

I rolled my eyes. “He is working tonight. And he’s in the office so he’s not going to be stopping by.”

“You know exactly where he is?” Eliza asked, beaming.

“Okay, enough of that.” I looked through the peephole and frowned before opening the door. “Hey, Hotch, what’s up? Anything wrong?”

Hotch shook his head and held out a big box. “I heard you mention it was girls’ night tonight, and since I was in the neighborhood, I picked up some of those variety cookies from the bakery down the street. I know your friend Brenna makes the best cakes and cupcakes there is, but I figured why not add a little variety with cookies?”

I looked at him, smiling but a little confused. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“No, I didn’t. But it was on sale, what can I say? I have a whole box for myself and the guys for later. I don’t mean to intrude on your night, but I saw these and thought of you.”

He handed over the box, and I opened the lid, holding back a groan at the sight of the perfectly iced sugar cookies. They were all pretty spring colors, each exquisitely done. I’d had cookies from this bakery before and had nearly fallen to my knees in gratitude for the delicious taste. I thought Brenna was a better baker, but that could be because she was my best friend. However, these cookies would be amazing.

“You honestly didn’t have to, but thank you, Hotch.”

He just grinned, put his hands in his pockets, and leaned back on his heels. “No problem. Well, I’m off to see the guys. I just wanted to see how you were doing. I haven’t talked to you that much recently.”

I leaned against the doorjamb, balancing the cookies on one palm. “I’ve been busy with work and family. You know?”

“And with your other neighbor, I hear.”

He said the words lightly, and I didn’t hear any jealousy in it. I was glad, even though I didn’t want the whole neighborhood knowing I was dating Jacob—or whatever we were doing since we didn’t actually want to be dating or anything serious like that. Hotch hadn’t asked me out since Jacob came back to town. Not really. And he hadn’t put on any moves or acted peculiar. The cookies he handed over hadn’t been the first time he’d done something like that. He was just a nice guy, and I’d always hated having to say no to him.

The fact that he wasn’t asking me out again or acting as if we could have something was nice—a change of pace.

“Well, it’s mostly work,” I said, cutting into any tension that might show up.

But there was none. Hotch looked happy. As if he hadn’t asked me out a few times before this. Maybe I was overthinking it. Perhaps Hotch was simply a nice guy who wanted to give me cookies. Delicious ones that I wanted to take a bite of immediately.

“Anyway, have a good night. Tell the girls hi. I’ll see you later.”

He waved, then headed back to his place, not even bothering to invite himself in or wanting to see the girls. He was just a nice guy who brought over cookies. So why did I feel so weird about it? It was probably because, after so many times of gently saying no to Hotch, I said yes to Jacob after one day. That didn’t make Hotch a bad person. It just meant that I wanted Jacob. Not that I could have him. Or want more than what we had. Because it wasn’t serious, it couldn’t be.

I closed the door and walked back into the living room. The girls glanced at me.

“Cookies?” Brenna asked, coming up and taking the box.

“Hotch dropped them off.”

“Oh, right, they were doing that sale. Buy one, get one free, and the proceeds of any additional tips go to St. Jude’s.”

“Really?” I asked.

Brenna nodded. “Yeah, it’s great. Marlene, the baker over there, is a wiz when it comes to cookies. We worked together on a few projects. And their sale today should bring in lots of donations and great business for her. I sent over a few, dare I say, cupcakes.”

That made sense since Brenna didn’t have a storefront and worked on orders rather than selling directly to the public. She worked alone. She didn’t need a store.

“That was nice of him,” Eliza said, meeting my gaze.

“Hotch does things like that sometimes. He’s never asked for anything in return. I try to reciprocate, but I think he’s just a nice guy.”

“Sometimes I feel like nice guys don’t exist,” Brenna said as she set the box of cookies on the table and sank down into the cushions.

“Sometimes they do,” Paige said, smiling as if she were having secret thoughts about a particular person.

“Thinking of Colton?” I asked, pushing away any weirdness I felt. Just because I wouldn’t have what Paige already seemed to have with Colton didn’t mean I lacked anything. It just meant that I wasn’t meant for that. I didn’t need it.

I had been married once before, even if only in name. And I wasn’t sure if I would ever want to do anything like that again. As it was, I barely had time for myself. I didn’t have time for anything more serious than what was already going on.

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