"I, er, didn't want to disturb you. Thought you would still be sleeping."
"I got up an hour ago." She swung the door wide open, leaving him no other choice but to enter.
"I brought you a bottle of wine."
"You remember!" Her delighted response had him smiling and handing the bottle to her. "Thanks. It's too early to indulge, but I made mocha delight and there's coffee."
He followed her into the cozy kitchen he remembered well.
"What's mocha delight?"
"You'll soon find out." She already had coffee going. "Sit," she ordered as she bustled around taking out cups and plates and a cake that smelled divine. "I'm always experimenting. When I got home last night, I was too revved to sleep, so I baked. Besides, I had an order for Café Treasure and wanted to get it out of the way."
"You came home at that hour and baked?"
"Of course." She slid him a surprised glance as she sliced the cake. "I work at odd hours." She handed him the coffee and cake. "I ended up going to bed at two this morning." She did not add that seeing him last night had made her restless with yearning and unable to fall asleep.
"What do you think?"
"Can you wait until I have taken a proper bite?"
"You're taking too long."
He merely sent her a lofty glance and deliberately took his time.
"Don't make me hurt you."
He grinned and swallowed. "You don't need validation and you know it. This is incredible."
"Great. You can be such a tool sometimes."
"Only sometimes?" he asked mildly, wondering again why he felt such peace and contentment in her company. And why since seeing her, he was no longer having nightmares. What was evenmore disturbing was the fact that he was having a difficult time thinking about Lizzie. It frightened him.
"Only sometimes." She spared him just a brief glance and could clearly see the confusion going on inside his mind as clearly as if she was doing an x-ray. She knew him that well and the years apart hadn't changed that. He was clearly wondering why he was here, but she knew. They had come together as if there hadn't been a separation.
The only thing she was worried about was that he would place her inside the "friend zone." That had happened before and she had stayed lodged right there while he sought love someplace else. She also had enormous odds stacked against her. The dead woman he had loved.
If Lizzie was alive, she would have a fair competition. Now she was going to have to fight with someone who was a ghost and one who could do no wrong. But she was in love with him, and this time, she had no intention of stepping back and running away again.
"Your David is the spitting image of you, just a lot cuter."
He cast her a wry glance that had her sighing silently in relief. The look of confusion was gone, thank God.
"Children are supposed to be an improvement over the parents." He sipped coffee and eyed her over the rim. "That guy, the one in France. What was he like?"
Giving him an arched look and fervently hoping he was jealous, she decided to do a little deceiving to even the odds.
"Tall, dark, and handsome and so typically French."
Feeling the fist clutching at his gut, he tried to be casual. "What the hell does that mean?"
"Charming." She poured more coffee into both cups. "Romantic, the flowers and wine type. Fancy restaurants, gifts every week and-"
He knew he was glowering, but did not care.
"And what?"
"Nothing." She busied herself by fussing with the bowl of fruits in the middle of her sturdy counter.
