“Did she now?”
The tips of my ears felt on fire. I realized Jace might have taken the lack of chastising as an encouragement to push boundaries even more than usual. I kept my eyes on the small screen for the remaining twenty minutes, not even glancing at Jace, even though I felt the tension gathering in the room like a thick fog. Could Sheila feel it?
“Ugh... I give up,” Sheila exclaimed when there were ten minutes left. “I’m gonna shower and hurry to catch the others at happy hour.”
I shook my head. “Have fun. Don’t drink too much. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Even as Sheila walked out of the room, I stuck to my workout, focusing at the screen as if the video was fascinating, and not the one hundredth repeat of How I Met Your Mother.
My entire body tensed when I heard Jace move through the room.
“Brooke, are you ready to go?” he asked when he stepped in front of me.
“I need a few more minutes. What are we doing tonight?”
We’d just agreed on meeting but didn’t make an actual plan.
“Do you want to go to my place? I’d love to spend the evening and the night with you. This week is going to be crazy. Who knows when we’ll have the chance to just enjoy each other?”
I was going to bring up the flowers, but at the warm, happy expression in his eyes, I couldn’t bring myself to, so I let it slide.
“Okay. I need fifteen minutes to shower and change, but you can leave now if you want. We’re driving with separate cars anyway.”
“I’ll go ahead. See you at home.” The happiness in his eyes dimmed somewhat. My stomach churned, but before I had a chance to ask what was wrong, he left the gym.
When I entered Jace’s house, I was surprised by the delicious food smell greeting me. I was even more surprised to find out that the source of the aromas wasn’t takeout. His house was amazing. I’d been here twice. I had expected something huge and extravagant, given his status, but while it was spacious with three bedrooms and a gorgeous backyard, it wasn’t opulent. It was comfortable and low-key. The walls were painted in shades of cream, paired with light brown tiles. I loved
the huge windows most.
Decorations were scarce, but Jace said he didn’t spend much time in his house anyway. The few items I’d noticed had all been bought by his sisters.
I’d never seen him in his kitchen, cooking.
“What is this?” I asked in amazement.
“What does it look like?” Jace gave me a cheeky smile before returning to dice some herbs.
“What are you preparing?”
“Pasta. Wanna help?”
“If you insist.”
Jace laughed softly. I did help him, sneaking a few kisses in between.
“Brooke,” Jace cautioned, when I’d gotten too caught up in the kissing part.
I was standing behind him, arms wrapped around his middle, peppering kisses on his upper back, then pushing myself on my toes and kissing the back of his neck. Turned out that area was a sensitive spot for him, because I heard him draw in a sharp breath.
“I’m behaving, I’m behaving,” I said quickly. “Don’t you go ruining our dinner on my account.”
“Well, I’ve done my part. This needs to simmer for twenty minutes. Do you want to go change into something more comfortable?”
“Like what?”
He disentangled himself from my arms, turning to face me.
“I don’t know. Whatever you find. A shirt, some shorts. Nothing at all.”