Page 81 of For Your Consideration

“If you’re cleaning, we’re at least joining you.” Sutton slid onto the stool I’d been on earlier. She lifted her shirt, slipped one arm out and started to adjust Sophie so I looked away and focused on the water filling the sink. “I forgot to tell you, I saw a lamp.”

I quirked my head to the side, turning off the water so I could hear her better. “A lamp?”

“Yeah, you said you needed one for your room, right?” When I glanced over at her, her eyes were on Sophie and she had a look on her face, almost flustered, or like she was embarrassed she brought it up. “After I put Soph down the other day I was just poking around online and saw one I thought looked good. I’m not sure what your budget is but if it’s over that’s fine.”

My lips twitched. I was thrilled she was thinking about me. And it was cute she thought I would have a budget. “Grab my phone.” I tilted my chin to where it sat face down on the counter in front of her.

“I can send you the link.”

I stood there blinking at her for a moment before she rolled her eyes and smiled at me. She grabbed it and then went to slide it toward me but I held up my soapy hands.

“Unlock it. Code is two-one-six, three-nine-four.” I went back to scrubbing the pot but after a moment of silence I looked over at her. She had a shocked look on her face, my phone still in her hand. “You can add your face to unlock it if you want.”

“You told me your code?”

I blinked a few times. “Yeah.”

“And you would add my face to your ID?”

“Yeah…”

“But then I’d have access to your whole phone.”

I frowned, not sure what I was missing. “Yeah, do you want my bank code too?”

Her eyes widened as she looked a little panicked. “That’s not funny, Asher.” I didn’t bother telling her I wasn’t kidding. She could take my codes, my cards, whatever the fuck she needed. “You don’t trust people.”

“That’s not true,” I argued as I went back to finishing the last few dishes. I wasn’t sure why this had freaked her out. I had nothing to hide from her; she could have full access to my phone.

“Yes, it is. You’ve said it.”

“There are people I don’t trust, but there are people I do.” I shot her a look over my shoulder.

“You trust me?” she asked in a soft voice.

“Yeah, sweetheart, anything on my phone is yours.”

I emptied the water, grabbed a towel to dry my hands, and then threw it over my shoulder and leaned on the counter. “Order the lamps, my card is linked.”

She glanced down at my forearms, her eyes tracking the tattoos, and I flexed them a little. Her eyes heated and I tamped down my smirk as she shook her head and looked back at me.

“Do you want to see them first? What if you hate them? You don’t even know how much they cost.”

“Do you like them?” Her eyes bounced between mine before she nodded hesitantly. “Then I’ll like them. And it’s almost offensive to ask me about the cost. There isn’t a price you could say that would make me say no.”

“A million dollars?”

I didn’t even flinch. Just stood there and quirked an eyebrow. If she had somehow found a lamp she liked that was a million dollars I would have bought it. But knowing her, the price was less than what any designer would have charged.

She let out a sigh as I smirked at her before grabbing the towel off my shoulder and starting to dry the dishes. “Fine, if you don’t like them they have a good return policy,” she mumbled as she put in my code and started searching.

No way in hell was I returning those lamps.

22

Sutton

“Quinn, I think this wass a baad idea.” I could hear the slight slur in my voice.