Recipe for Love (Jupiter Tides #1)

by Anne Malcom

“You better be invoicing me for all of this,” I told him in a stern tone. Stern was all I could manage. Tears were prickling the backs of my eyes as it was. Speaking of stern… that’s exactly what I saw on Rowan’s face. “You give me a cent for this, we’re gonna have problems.” I gulped at his rough tone. “This is a gift.” I gaped. Opened my mouth. Closed it. Waited for the punchline even though Rowan wasn’t exactly a joking kind of guy. “A gift?” I squeaked. “You cannot build an addition onto my house as a gift!” My voice rose then. “I mean, we’ve been dating like… a month. And this is thousands of dollars of material, labor…” Rowan surged forward to clasp my upper arms. Not hard. His touch was featherlight, as if I were made of glass, ever since I woke up in the hospital. “First, you’re not workin’ yourself up.” He scowled. “You’re gonna go sit on the sofa.” “No!” I protested, rooting myself in place, even though my stomach was throbbing, and it was exhausting, standing for so long. A muscle jumped in Rowan’s jaw. “You cannot give me this as a gift,” I whispered. “You cannot give me everything I’ve dreamed of.” I looked down so my tears would hit the floor. Rowan wasn’t about to let that happen. His finger lifted the bottom of my chin so I looked upward, into his eyes. “Cupcake, this is my job.” He tilted his head toward the greenhouse. “I get deals on shit, pay Kip in beer, and get plenty of payment in all the things you bake for me. The way you smile at me in the morning...