I pulled back before I got too distracted by lips and teeth. “You’re not going to take that job in Vegas, are you?”

I didn’t see how he could. Not with everything he’d just shared.

For the first time this morning he avoided my gaze, staring at a spot past my shoulder. “Rowan offered me a job at the rec center.”

My eyebrows shot up. It wasn’t a direct answer to my question, but it was certainly new information. “He did? Doing what?”

He worked his fingers through my hair, rubbed a strand between his thumb and forefinger. “He wants to start a formal food program for seniors in our neighborhood.”

“Like Eddie,” I said.

He nodded tightly. “Yeah. Like Eddie. He wants to hire a program manager to get it off the ground. Give it legs, get it funded. He wants it to be me.”

“I personally think you’d be great at that job.”

“Oh yeah? Why’s that?”

“I’ve worked with a lot of nonprofits doing hunger relief work,” I said. “And conducted a lot of interviews with staff speaking frankly about the challenges of getting people to open up about their needs. Asking for help filling their pantries. Especially people Eddie’s age. There’s a lot of pressure to be self-sufficient, and people think they can’t ask for help. Or shouldn’t.” I shot him a wry look. “It’s not like we make asking for help easy. But a lot of seniors we know would relate to your personal experiences.” I touched his chin, held his focus. “You know what it’s like to have eyes on you all the time. To have people whispering things about you. You grew up with two gay moms and you were a professional athlete. If anyone can sympathize with not wanting all this unwelcome attention on your personal life, it’s you, Mr. Machine.”

For a moment, I thought I’d overstepped or said something horribly wrong. He didn’t speak, merely stared at me. Until he claimed my mouth with a kiss that sent that clumsy ballerina in my chest spinning away.

“Do you want to garden with me today?” he asked, completely out of the blue.

I tilted my chin. “Garden?”

He looked ever-so-briefly bashful. “Yeah. For the lot. I took some of the money you raised to get a few flower beds down. Natalia and my parents gave me a pretty specific list. It could be, you know, a type of spontaneous fun.”

A grin exploded across my face. “Let me check my schedule.”