“Mmmaybe,” I said, smirking.
Brevin picked up the knife and set the blade gently on top of one of the sandwiches lengthwise. I had to do my best not to react. Especially when he lifted it and put it back diagonally.
“Now you’re just teasing me,” I said.
“What would be the fun if I didn’t,” he asked with a raised eyebrow. The look on his face practically made me melt, and I decided then that if he did it wrong, I would forgive him. Because there are so many worse things in the world, as I found out the hard way just tonight.
He spun the plate and studied the sandwich.
“Screw it,” he said, and cut into the sandwich. Diagonally.
If it hadn’t been for my sore ankle, I’d have leapt up and kissed him right there and then.
CHAPTER 10
Brevin
Chevonne smiledat me and it took me straight back to when we were onstage together. I never got a chance to tell her how much I enjoyed playing opposite her.
The last time I remember seeing her, it was our first kiss. Technically, it was our eighth first kiss on the stage, but who was counting? If I hadn’t gone away to school when I did, who knows what would have happened. Maybe we’d be happily married by now.
All I knew for sure in that moment was I wanted that first kiss. The real one. Just for us.
I unplugged the phone, then walked around the table and knelt on the floor at Chevonne’s feet. She knew what was coming, but she waited. Hell, she’d been waiting for years, and so had I. But now? The wait was over.
“Chevonne?”
“Yes, Brevin?”
“Can I kiss you?”
Chevonne smiled and gently cupped my cheek. I placed mine over hers, finding it warm. I’d done more than one thing right today.
“I would love that,” she whispered.
And as our lips met, I was transformed.
CHAPTER 11
Chevonne
2 monthslater
I was standing at the front door of Brevin’s condo, absently scratching the top of Princess’s head and gazing around at the usual spots, but it wasn’t there. “Brevin, do you know where my scarf is?”
“I think you left it in your office,” he called from the kitchen.
“Wait here,” I muttered to the dog. She sat obediently and I headed to my workspace.
Brevin had set up a cozy spot for a desk in his library—because of course he had a library—so I could work on his personal finances. He’d been doing his own bookkeeping, and I wouldn’t say his books were a mess, but I was still sorting out receipts a month into the task. The extra work made up for my cut hours at my regular job, and I was still able to afford my apartment. Not that I spent a lot of time there. Most nights I stayed here or at the cabin with Brevin, and it was becoming a most pleasant habit. I had a decision to make when my lease expired in May.
On the way past the kitchen, I stopped to kiss my boyfriend. Yes, finally Brevin had taken me on that date. We’d found the same movie we’d planned to see fourteen years ago at a throwback matinee, so we’d gone to that. And we’d been on many dates since. I’d even convinced him to take a real week off, no work involved.
“Let me finish throwing the vegetables in the slow cooker, and I’ll come for a walk with you,” Brevin said as he speed-chopped carrots.
“That’s okay,” I said. “There’s a scene for my new short story I want to go over in my head.”
Brevin turned to me and smiled. I noted that he didn’t even glance out the window at the snow falling. I didn’t think about Tina often these days, but at times like this, I still couldn’t help comparing. At the same time, it was nice to remember the glorious weekend we’d spent at the cabin, sitting by the fire and catching up. The first night we’d slept in the living room on opposite couches—Brevin had been a perfect gentleman. By the time the weekend was over, we were sharing a bed. We’d finally left not because the roads were open, but because we’d run out of steaks for Princess.
