“Dangerously good. You’re going to spoil me,” I said.
By the time he set the plates on the island I was genuinely overwhelmed. Eggs, fluffy and perfectly done. A pile of golden hash browns. Three strips of bacon each. Two pancakes stacked on a separate smaller plate beside the main one. The toast already buttered. The fruit in a bowl between us. A second cup of espresso appearing at my elbow without me asking.
“Colt, this is so much food,” I said.
“Eat.”
“I cannot eat all of this.”
He settled onto the stool beside me and picked up his fork with complete serenity. “Sure you can.”
“I’m a normal-sized human person. This is enough food for a man who’s been baling hay since sunrise.”
He chuckled. “Back home that’s exactly who I’d be making it for.” He cut into his eggs. “You’ll get used to it.”
I picked up my fork, deciding to start with the eggs because they smelled incredible and I was hungrier than I’d admitted. “I’m not sure I need to get used to it,” I said. “I’ll be enormous.”
“You’ll be fed,” he corrected. “There’s a difference.”
I took a bite of the eggs. They were perfect. Seasoned properly, cooked through but not rubbery. I took another bite before I’d finished the first.
“These are really good,” I said.
He glanced at me sideways. “Thank you.”
We ate in comfortable quiet for a few minutes. The music he’d put on earlier had shifted to something easy and acoustic. I managed more of the food than I expected to. The pancakes were light and slightly sweet. The hash browns were crispy on the outside the way they were supposed to be. I ate two strips of bacon and thought about how much time in the water I was going to need to burn this meal off.
“I’m so full,” I groaned.
“We have to get you used to these big meals,” he said.
“Why?”
“Because when it’s time for you to come to the ranch, you need to be prepared.”
I stopped chewing. “What?”
“You have to come back to Texas with me when I go home to prepare for the move.”
I grinned. “Is that an invitation?”
“That’s a request. One that you can’t refuse.”
As if I would.
CHAPTER 46
COLT
The dishes could wait. “Let’s go shower,” I said.
“I don’t have any clothes here.”
“You can shower here, go home, and change, and then I want to spend the day with you. Does that work for you?”
She smiled. “That works for me.”
I followed her up the stairs and into the bathroom. She had already reached into the shower and turned the water on, steam beginning to curl up toward the ceiling by the time I came through the door. She pulled my shirt over her head and dropped it with a casualness that undid me completely. I could not wait to have more mornings just like this. I pulled off my shorts and stepped in after her.
