her now-tingling lips, Hogan whispered, “You may be the boss, but no is still no.” And just like that, he gave his attention back to his grills.
Feeling all eyes on her, Violet fought off a blush, turned on her heel and headed back inside.
She heard Hogan say firmly, “Tonight, Violet.”
And suddenly laughter broke out. Wow.
So maybe she shouldn’t have pushed him after all.
* * *
After Sullivan and Lexie left, and Honor went inside to find Colt, Hogan decided it was now or never.
He could feel Jason watching him, though, and as soon as they were alone, he asked, “So you and Violet, huh?”
Since that was what Hogan wanted to talk about, he should have had a better answer, but all he said was “I don’t know.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means it’s complicated.” Hogan checked each grill, was satisfied and took a seat next to Jason. “I’ve been interested since the day I met her. No secret there.”
“Definitely not a secret,” Jason agreed.
“She’s always rejected me.”
“You’re not one to give up easily.”
“No.” Hogan looked out over the seating area. Neighbors, friends, people he’d met, people he liked, were all enjoying the day. And his food. He felt a sense of satisfaction over that. “Violet couldn’t be more different from Meg.”
“True.” Jason shooed away a bee. “That’s a problem?”
“I don’t know. I used to understand what I wanted, but that’s all gone now, and this—living in Clearbrook, being close to you, hell, even the sunrises and sunsets—they’re all nice.” Far nicer than he’d expected.
“I’m glad to hear it. Honor and I love having you and Colt next door. It would break her heart if you moved too far away. You know she never had real family until us, so she takes it very seriously now.”
Us. Yes, Honor definitely considered him and Colt a part of her family. “I know.” Meaning every word, he said, “Honor is special, not just to you, but to Colt and me, too.” He stood to slather more sauce on the ribs, then reseated himself, his legs stretched out in front of him, the sun hot on his back. “Violet is also unlike any of the ladies I’ve been with recently.”
“Amen to that.”
Hogan had to grin. “Your disapproval is showing through.”
“Not disapproval,” Jason protested. “It’s just that none of those ladies made you happy. Like you’ve said, you knew what you wanted and a string of meaningless hookups wasn’t it.”
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