Page 45 of Honey Undone (The Hornets Nest #5)

JENSEN

W e made our way back to the kitchen, where Mom had her laptop out at the island, grumbling hopelessly over something.

Adeline leaned against the counter at the opposite end as I made my way back to the stove.

The pot I had been told to watch was fine, and I was sure that Mom was just being obnoxiously involved on purpose.

“Where’s Dad anyway, isn’t he your assistant chef?” I asked, giving the risotto some more liquid just like she had taught me.

“He’s in a meeting,” she said, “keeping stirring.”

“Alright,” I did as I was told as she tapped away on her laptop, clearly frustrated. “What’s going on?” I finally asked. It wasn’t like her to be doing work, especially not with company over.

“We’re launching the new web service for the hotels and with it the mobile app but everything that could go wrong, is.” She explained. “This app is cursed.” She swore under her breath.

“Can I see?” Adeline piped up, straightening out as she pushed off the island to move around to help my Mom.

“It’s kind of my specialty,” she said, her eyes scanned over the screen.

“Oh, I know this program.” She looked at the laptop, and my mom moved out of the way so Adeline could get to the keyboard.

“If we rewrite this section of code.” She pointed to the computer and showed her, “then this will streamline bookings and stop the issue of users being timed out waiting in line.”

“You’re IT?” my mom asked.

“Developer,” she said, chewing on her lip while she typed something out.

“We take clients and create their apps from scratch. Any of the assistance after is IT.” Mom looked over at me with a smile on her face, but her eyes were telling.

Oh she’s out of your league . The teasing was loud and joking aside, I absolutely agreed.

Adeline Sarah was well out of my league.

But there was something else there, a softer expression of I like her .

And not that I needed the approval, but it made the corners of my mouth curl into a proud smile.

It was interesting to hear Adeline talk about work, she did it so rarely that I forgot she was a person outside of rugby. I can’t help but keep my eyes on them. Adeline had been so scared to come over here, and now she was typing away on my mom’s computer like it was nothing.

My mom looked up at Adeline and smiled softly, her expression full of gratitude and pride. “That’s impressive, we’ve been trying to fix that for hours.”

“Companies have been using artificial intelligence to run code and it’s been a pain in my ass— I mean butt.” Adeline grimaced when she swore.

“I’ve heard worse, Honey.” Mom’s attention was on the laptop screen when Adeline looked up at me with a smile.

I gave her a small thumbs up, and she scrunched her nose at me sending sparks dancing across my chest. I couldn’t help but stare, it was like she glowed the warmest shade of amber.

I always wanted to be around it and the way my heart was trying to beat out of my chest. The words were on the tip of my tongue, I could feel them there wanting to slip out as a conscious thought.

But that’s not what we were, it was casual, simple. Fun.

I couldn’t be in love with Adeline.

She spoke again and pulled me from my thoughts to check the risotto in a panic, only to see it nearly done. She was typing again, and my mom was watching intently to every move she made trying to figure out what she was fixing.

“That’s what happened here, it just wasn’t prepared for the test load that you sent through but I’d say if you expect that many visitors to the app on launch I wouldn’t throttle the website.” She explained it slowly and clearly as my mom took notes and nodded in understanding.

“You’re incredibly intelligent, Adeline,” she praised, and Adeline smiled.

“Thank you, Mrs. Jensen.”

“Call me Lena.” She winked .

“I didn’t realize how many locations you had.” Adeline crossed her arms over her chest.

“We’ve got a hotel in every major city across America now. Our newest locations are in Montana, California and Seattle.” Mom explained, “Hopefully in the new year we can close a deal for a location in Mexico.”

That was right, they had just opened a brand new location in San Francisco. Thoughts stirred around Adeline leaving and just like that insanity slipped in, leaving me wondering if she had just laid down a new path for me to follow. Without even knowing it.

Dinner went amazing, Adeline charmed her way into their hearts with nothing more than her smile and intelligence and I couldn’t have been more attracted to her at that moment. The way she carried herself through every conversation with such an ease no matter what questions my parents threw at her.

How am I doing? Do you think she likes me?

How couldn’t she? You’re a dream.

I looked up to see Adeline smile at her phone before tucking it away as Mom returned with dessert.

A few times Mom made eye contact and I knew from the soft expression that I had made the right decision bringing her here.

It had been bugging me since I found out about California, and I couldn’t figure out if it was because I was upset that she hadn’t told me herself, or that I was stuck on not having a solution.

It was silly, but I wanted to keep Adeline. I wasn’t ready to let her go.

I was starting to like the feeling of the strings she was tying me up in.

“I’ve never had lamb before, that was incredible.” Adeline helped me carry the plates back to the kitchen after dinner was finished and handed them to me as I rinsed them off for the dishwasher.

“Thank you for enduring every single dad joke that was made,” I said, kissing her temple before bending over to load the dishes.

“Worth it, I think I fixed the app for the hotel. I gave your mom—Lena… my work number so if she needs me when they launch I’m just a call away,” she said to me, not understanding how much she was breaking my heart with her kindness.

“And you were scared,” I teased her as her hand reached out to rake across my back absentmindedly.

“I wasn’t scared.” She rolled her eyes as she leaned against the counter waiting for me to finish so I could take her home, but I had one more surprise.

“Oh well if you weren’t brave then I guess you don’t need the treat I was going to give you,” I said, looking at her out of the corner of eye. She perked up, tilting her head sideways to get my attention. “What?” I shrugged, “It was only there as bribery and I didn’t have to use it.”

“I like being bribed,” Adeline pouted, “Bribe me!” She demanded and I laughed, closing the dishwasher to move in front of her.

“Ask me nicely,” I lowered my voice. There were some things I didn’t need to share with my parents. Like the feral need to drive Adeline nuts at every turn simply because I liked when she acted like a brat.

“No,” she clipped.

“Oh well,” I said, turning away from her but she caught my shirt in her fingers. “Use your words, Adeline.” I grinned at her and enjoyed it as her cheeks turned red.

“What if I don’t want to use my words?” She countered and I laughed.

“Your loss, it’s a really sick surprise.” I flicked a finger beneath her chin.

A grumble formed at the base of her throat as she narrowed her eyes on me, “please.”

“Please what?” I pushed back.

“Please show me the surprise?” Her voice was sweeter than before as she turned on her charm and got her way with a pretty little smile on her face.

“Since you asked so nicely.” I kissed her lips gently, taking my time until she impatiently leaned into the feeling and her arms wrapped around my neck.

“Quick, before we get suckered into movie night.” I gave her hip a squeeze and turned her in the direction of the hallway, leading her down the opposite side from my room and past my parents bickering gently in the living room over what movie they wanted to watch .

I popped the door on the garage behind my back as I blocked her way inside, “Close your eyes.”

“No,” she scowled and I waited until she decided she wanted to listen to instructions.

“You like that word today, hey?” I stared at her, kissing the corner of her mouth and taking her hand.

I stepped down into the garage, grabbing her by the waist and lifting her down against my chest until she was inside with me.

She was being unbelievably patient, and it was unlike her to be even entertaining my games.

It wasn’t until I clicked the button on the fob and the loud click of the doors unlocking echoed through the garage that she opened her eyes.

“Holy shit,” She looked at the sleek black car and back to me. “Is that 2024 GR?”

She moved around me toward the Supra with childlike excitement on her face as her hand reached out to run over the smooth angled roof.

“Is it yours?” She asked me, her eyes locked on the sports car.

When I didn’t answer, she continued to circle the vehicle, “Why do you drive that old man car? How dare you leave her sitting here!” She narrowed her beautiful, vicious hazel eyes at me over the roof.

“I’m not driving the Supra around Harbor, it’s unethical.” I shrugged, but I was enjoying her genuine shock that I had one.

“You just leave a sixty thousand dollar sports car sitting in your garage? Please, Jensen. Why?” She almost sounded upset over the fact that it was sitting here unused.

“I drive it up to the cabin, highways only. You can’t even open the thing up in Harbor without hitting a stop sign. There’s no point,” I argued.

“ Her. This car is a goddess and you’re making silly excuses. Harbor deserves to hear her purr. You’re a monster,” she gasped.

“Catch.” I said, knowing it would be enough for her to raise her hand, her reflexes were sharp enough and the keys landed safely in her palm.

“Are you serious?” She looked at the keys in her hand mischievously.

“As long as you can drive stick, Adeline. Dead.”

She didn’t need anymore confirmation before she was crawling into the front seat of the Supra with a wicked giggle.

It took her another ten minutes of admiring the seats, dashboard and interior specs before she even started it and when it roared to life she looked like she had just won the lottery.

Her cheeks were flushed, her smile was wide and bright.

I was practically jealous of the glow it gave her as she pulled it from the garage.

“This is better than—”

“Don’t you dare,” I clapped my hand over her mouth as she revved the engine and the car roared beneath us. She licked the palm of my hand and shifted the car with a satisfied expression as it vibrated to life and she ripped away from the house.

For a girl so hell-bent on speed, she was good. Really good. It made me wonder where she learned to drive like that because there wasn’t a moment of worry. She pulled the Supra out onto the highway without asking, and I was glad she did because the moment of pure joy in her body was like euphoria.

“Open it up,” I said to her, reaching across to snake my hand around her thigh.