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He stepped closer and peered over her shoulder. “Oh, man. It smells amazing.” When she turned to look at him, he froze. They were close again, like they had been in the bathroom. He could feel his heart rate jump up as their gazes met. Remembering the conversation with Vini, he decided to take a chance. “Can I kiss you?”

Janae blinked quickly before her eyes widened like she wasn’t expecting his question. That made two of them. But she seemed to recover even faster and nodded.

Aiden moved slowly, giving her plenty of time to change her mind. He even paused when their lips were barely a whisper away from one another just in case she needed a moment to think about what he was asking. When no words came, Aiden closed the distance, pressing his lips to hers. The sensation was just as good as the first couple times they’d kissed. He stepped close, reaching up and curling a finger under Janae’s chin, pulling her head up gently.

There was a soft groan, and for a moment, Aiden wasn’t sure who it had come from. When the small sound drifted from Janae’s lips, he couldn’t help but chase the sound, his tongue asking for entrance between her lips. The kiss wasn’t hard, but it was thorough, with Aiden taking time to explore Janae until he was sure he could paint a picture of her teeth and the way her tongue shifted against his. It was heaven, even if he knew he had to pull away.

“We should eat,” he rumbled out, voice gone deep with arousal. The chili was the last thing on his mind, but he needed to try to be normal and non-pushy about this. He wanted Janae to feel completely comfortable with him.

He wanted Janae.

She blinked slowly as if waking from a dream. Her reaction encouraged him, and he hoped that she was very much enjoying the direction their cohabitation was taking. But would it be weird to ask her outright? He wasn’t sure.

“Right,” Janae agreed, though she didn’t step out of Aiden’s hold. “We should get some food before it gets cold.” She angled her head, eyes not leaving his.

“Exactly,” he replied, though he didn’t really feel like doing anything other than diving back between her lips. He wanted to sample her flavor until he could taste nothing else but her. With a deep breath in, he took one step back, and then another until Janae could turn fully, pot of chili in her hands.

“Could you grab the corn bread out of the stove?”

Aiden nodded and followed her directions. As soon as he pulled it out, he took a large sniff, his eyes fluttering at the scent. This was far better than sitting in his apartment with nothing to do and no one to do it with. They sat together at the table, the atmosphere a little awkward, but nowhere near where it was last night or early this morning.

Dinner was easy in the way that things had started becoming easy with them. Aiden talked about a couple of the vintage cars that were brought into the shop, and Janae mentioned how one of her art students had accidentally glued their shirt to the desk. Aiden couldn’t stop laughing at the shenanigans she was telling him about. When they were finished eating and he went to help clean up, she protested, but he insisted, rolling up his sleeves. Doing the dishes while standing together at the sink, letting the evening settle around them, had quickly become one of his favorite daily routines. Their shoulders brushed, the contact sending a shiver of comfort and arousal through him. At this point, he didn’t bother trying to hide it. She had to know how he felt about her.

After, they separated like normal. Aiden went to the spare bathroom to put a second coat of paint on the wall. Janae joked about painting too before walking into the sunroom and glancing over her shoulder with a soft smile. It was the type of smile that had him pausing and wondering what she would do if he pulled her closer for more than just soft kisses. He shook his head before turning away and grabbing the roller he’d set out last night to get to work. The rhythmic up-and-down motion calmed him for a time. The soft jazz flowing from the sunroom slowly drifted into the bathroom, his strokes falling into beat. When he was done, he bent to put the roller down, a movement catching his attention.

The sunroom door was open, the glow from the lamp inside spilling across the hallway floorboards. Janae stood by her canvas, brush in hand and a smear of light blue paint on her cheek. She looked incredibly focused and so undeniably in her element that he nearly dropped the roller in his hand onto the floor. Aiden forgot what he was doing as he watched her tilt her head back and forth before the soft sound of the brush against canvas reached his ears. He wasn’t sure how long he stood there, gaze riveted on Janae and how her lips parted just so when she leaned forward to observe her own work. When she turned, their eyes meeting, he realized he had slowly been walking into the hallway as if compelled and was now standing outside the sunroom door.

Janae smiled, her expression soft and teasing. “You can come in, you know.”

Aiden hesitated in the doorway. “I didn’t want to accidentally get in your way.”

“You wouldn’t,” she replied, beckoning him in. “I teach high schoolers, so I’m pretty sure I can handle you.”

He snorted in amusement. “Wow, I’m being compared to a bunch of teens now.”

“You do have a baby face and freckles. And the dimples give it a little extra something.”

“I’ll give you a little extra something,” he murmured before he swallowed hard at how that might have sounded. Janae didn’t look scandalized though. If anything, she looked even more amused. He tried to save things by gesturing at her canvas. “Do you mind if I look?”

Janae shook her head and stepped aside. “That’s fine. It’s not done, but I’m also not exactly sure what it is. Sometimes my brain likes to go off in tangents on a blank canvas. I just mix colors to see what it comes up with.”

Aiden nodded and walked closer, taking in the swirls of blue. It was vibrant, the color of a clear summer sky that made him think about running outside as the breeze blew softly over his skin.

“It’s beautiful,” he said softly.

“Thanks,” Janae said before glancing up at him. “Have you ever painted before?”

He smirked and gestured toward the bathroom. “That’s sort of what I’m doing now.”

She snorted and bumped his shoulder with hers. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it. Have you ever done art classes outside of high school?”

Aiden shook his head. “Never.”

“Then we’ll start small,” she said before reaching for his hand. Aiden wasn’t sure what to do. He watched as she slid her brush, still warm from her grasp, between his fingers. The feeling of their skin brushing together made his breath hitch, far too noisy to not be heard. Thankfully, she stepped closer to him. “Just follow my lead and let the brush guide you.”

“What if I mess it up?” he asked, not wanting to derail what she’d already started.

Janae shook her head. “You won’t.”