Page 29 of Tactically Tied

How had he kissed other women? He didn't know. He couldn't remember a single name, not a single face. They had all paled after the first time he'd tasted her lips in the empty Home Ec room after he all but dared her to kiss him.

It had been his senior year, her junior. Jed stepped into the Home Ec room, the smell of simmering sauce drawing him toward the back of the kitchen. He'd known it was her sauce. Only Jami Chou had the culinary genius to mix those particular spices.

It was late afternoon. The sun was hiding behind clouds that threatened an oncoming storm. The place was quiet, with only the low sound of Jami Chou muttering to herself as she stirred something on the stove.

He stood in the doorway for a moment, watching as she frowned down at the saucepan. Her brow furrowed in concentration, and he could see that familiar look of frustration on her face. She was struggling.

“Try lowering the heat.”

Jami had stiffened, her grip on the wooden spoon tightening. She didn’t look up, didn’t even acknowledge him at first. But she hesitated—just for a second—before her shoulders squared and she shook her head. “I’ve got it.”

“Just saying you might want to bring the heat down a notch or it’ll split.”

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, the tiniest flicker of doubt crossing her face. But she wasn’t going to admit it. Jami Chou never admitted when he was right. Even when it was as plain as the sauce bubbling in front of her. Instead, she adjusted the heat ever so slightly, adding a pinch of something from her spice rack, making it seem like it was all her idea.

That’s when it hit him. If he ever wanted to kiss Jami, it had to be her idea. She’d never let him take the lead, not without putting her own spin on it.

“So, uh, I just saw Ryan,” he said casually, leaning on the counter beside her. Ryan, the idiot who'd dared him to kiss her, certain she never would.

Jed didn't care about the bet. It was the permission he wanted. Not the permission from Ryan. The boy wasn't deserving of the young goddess who was somehow blind to his lack of charm. Jed had only needed to know that Jami was currently available to be kissed.

Jami’s hand paused over the sauce for a moment, but she didn’t react.

“I’m sorry he dumped you.”

That got her attention. She turned her head sharply, narrowing her eyes at him. “I broke up with him.”

Jed shrugged, trying to keep his tone easy, but he felt the excitement building. “Didn’t look like it to me. But hey, what do I know?”

Jami huffed, turning back to her sauce. The tension in her body told him he’d hit a nerve. Perfect.

He shifted closer, smelling the faint trace of jasmine in her hair. “You know, I’ve never been dumped. Guess I’m too good a kisser for that.”

Jami snorted, but he saw the way her lips twitched. “Yeah, right.”

“Bet I’m a better kisser than you are.”

Her eyes flashed. There it was. That spark of competitiveness he loved to see in her. Her jaw tightened, her eyes sparking in that determined way that told him she was about to take the bait. She set the spoon down slowly, wiping her hands on her apron as she turned to face him fully.

Jed held his breath, his heart hammering in his chest, knowing exactly what was coming next.

“Well, I guess there’s only one way to find out,” Jami said, her voice low, her gaze locked on his.

And that’s when Jed knew he’d won. Or so he thought. He ran into Ryan that weekend, and the smug loser told him that he and Jami had gotten back together the next day. Graduation was a few weeks later, and then Jed was gone.

That was then. This was now.

Right now, Jed felt the subtle give in his wife's body. His wife. His forever. And now, his truly.

Jami relaxed into him with trust. With affection. Maybe even a specific spice of affection. Lust he could work with. He'd use every utensil in his arsenal to whip it into love.

Jed poured everything into that kiss, trying to show her what words had failed to convey. He wanted her to stay, to choose this life, to choose him.

“Marriage is sacred."

Jami jerked away from him at the sound of her grandmother's voice. Meiying Chou was standing like a proud swan in front of the cameras, her silver hair making her look more regal than elderly.

"My granddaughters, they came into their own after they got married. You see, a good man has a way of lifting his wife up. And a good wife, well, she grounds her husband, keeps him steady. Though, in Jami and Jed’s case, it might be the other way around.”

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