Page 30 of The Offer

“But that would also mean you would have to get butt naked,” he said, that infuriating smirk curling up the side of his face again.

She wanted to wipe it right off, and thought of just the way to do so. “I want to hook up with a stranger.”

His face paled. Success.

“I-I, well—”

“I mean, it’s been so many years with Charlie…I never really got to try the whole one-night stand thing,” she said. “You could be my wingman.”

He ran a hand through his hair, brushing it out of his face. “I don’t think—”

“That it’s a good idea? This is my list, but hey, if you’d rather we not do this, we could scrap the whole thing…”

“No,” he said rather abruptly. “We’re doing this. You deserve this.”

Her chest did that weird thing again as they stared at one another. Kevin coughed to break the silence, looking back down at the sheet of paper. “You, um, have two more.”

Jess paced, thinking through what her life would be like without Charlie. It hit her then—for the first time in almost a decade, she was single. Alone. Well…not completely alone; she had Calvin and his Gram and the staff at Scoops and her infuriating friend turned bossy boss. But as she wondered whether she’d feel that familiar loneliness this summer, something she’d never had the capacity to do with Charlie hit her square in the face.

“I want to get a dog,” she whispered

Kevin’s face brightened, as if he himself were a dog and Jess had offered him a treat. “A dog?!” he squeaked.

“Calm down, tiger,” she said, shuffling through the logistics of what having a dog would entail. “Out of all of these, that feels the most unrealistic. They’re so expensive, and with the bakery opening I’m not even sure if…”

“Stop, stop, stop,” Kevin said. He moved around the display case to her side of the counter, then placed his hands on his shoulders. His favorite position with her, apparently. “We can easily find solutions. And you’re about to have money, Jess. You won’t have to pay rent for a little while.”

“I can’t mooch off the Balls forever, Kevin.”

“Yes, but they’re in no rush to have you leave. You can take your time.”

She huffed. “I should probably ask them if it would be all right before we get our hopes up.”

He squeezed her shoulders with a little too much enthusiasm. “Did you say we?”

Jess felt her face flush. “I-I, shit, I didn’t mean—”

“Aww, you want to be co-parents as well as co-workers, how cute,” he teased, booping her nose with his finger. “I would love to be the father, you didn’t even have to ask.”

She scowled at him. “I didn’t ask.”

“Minor detail,” he said, shooing her comment away. “I’ve kept a note of different dog names I like in my phone for years now. I’ll send it to you for your consideration.”

“How kind of you,” she grumbled.

“Thank you. Now, I believe you have one left,” Kevin said, snatching the list and writing DOGGIE!!!! in bold for number nine.

Jess reached for the roller in the tray and began aggressively painting the walls again. She knew what her last one should be, but sharing it with Kevin felt way too intimate.

“Hey, hey, don’t shut down on me,” Kevin said softly, reaching for her again. She twisted out of his reach.

He got the message straight away and took a few steps back. “Okay, how about this.”

She paused, peering over her shoulder at him.

“How about we each pick something for number ten, something that we do at the time of our choosing.”

Jess frowned. “But then that would make it eleven things.”