I shovel another big bite in my mouth.
“You got home late.”
“Sorry.” I cut off another bite and take a much smaller piece now. “Some regulars decided to live it up last night.”
“Don’t be sorry.” Brooks comes around the counter with his own plate. Comet is at his feet, no doubt hoping to get a few scraps. “I’msorry I couldn’t stay awake.”
“It’s okay.” I spin on the stool to face him as he takes a seat next to me. “How are you feeling?”
“Feeling? About what?”
The smile on his face tells me he knows exactly what I’m talking about. Grabbing his hand so he can’t spin away from me, I pull him between my knees. “About last night.”
“What happened last night?”
Brooks rests his elbows on the counter and locks eyes with me. It does funny things to my insides. Things that I’m hoping he doesn’t regret this morning.
“Do I need to remind you?”
Brooks’s smile grows bigger as he moves closer to me and licks his lips. “I would not mind a refresher.”
Grasping his neck, I slant my lips over his in the sweetest of kisses. He tastes like coffee and cinnamon, a taste I could get drunk on.
Brooks’s tongue darts out to lick my bottom lip and I suck him into my mouth. My mind is swirling over how good it feels to kiss him.
I dig my fingers into the soft strands of hair at the nape of his neck. Licking. Sucking. Drinking my fill of the person I never thought I would get to have.
Until he breaks the kiss.
“Oh yeah. That. I like that.”
“Yeah?”
I drop my forehead to his, letting my fingers comb through his hair.
“So much so, that I want to keep doing it.”
“You do?” I don’t want to hope for too much. I don’t knowif my heart could take the letdown because Brooks really isn’t in the place to be starting something.
“Yeah. I mean, you might have to go slow with me.”
“As slow as you need.”
Brooks laughs. “I mean, not that slow. I’d like to keep doing the kissing.”
“The kissing?” I press my lips to the corner of his mouth. “Onlythe kissing?”
Resting his hands on my thighs, Brooks squeezes them. “I could be down for more.”
“Well.” I spear a piece of pancake and bite it off my fork. “I guess I better eat my breakfast to get my energy formore.”
“It is the most important meal of the day,” Brooks confirms.
Especially if it leads to more.
Chapter Eleven
CHARLIE
