“I don’t mind.”She smiled.“You cook, I wash.”
“Fair deal.”
They moved in quiet rhythm, bumping shoulders and sharing the occasional smile.The warm water ran over his hands as he rinsed and passed dishes to her to dry.
When their hands bumped again, Ellie looked up at him, eyes unreadable.
“Thank you,” she said softly.
“For the pancakes?”he asked, playing dumb even as his heart kicked.
“For everything.”
Dasher dried his hands and reached for her waist, pulling her gently toward him.She came willingly, her hands resting lightly on his chest.
“I’m not going anywhere this time,” he said.“You know that, right?”
“I’m starting to believe it,” she whispered.
He dipped his head, brushing his nose against hers.Her breath hitched, and then she kissed him, soft and sure.
It wasn’t frantic like the night before.It wasn’t driven by adrenaline or emotion.It was slower, deeper, filled with the kind of promise that made a man want to build a life around it.
Dasher deepened the kiss, he slid one hand to the small of her back, the other cupping her cheek.Her lips parted on a sigh, and for a long, quiet moment, they just stood there, wrapped around each other in the kitchen, as morning light spilled through the window.
When they finally pulled apart, she rested her forehead against his.
“I missed this,” she murmured.“I missed you.”
He brushed her hair back.“I’ll spend the rest of my life making up for the time I lost, if you’ll let me.”
Ellie smiled then, slow and sure, like she already knew.“You’re already doing it.”
Chapter Ten
One Year Later
